Copyrights infringed

Song lyrics “stolen”: GEMA files suit against OpenAI

According to GEMA, ChatGPT was also trained with copyrighted texts, including song lyrics from the repertoire of the collecting society's approximately 95,000 members.(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

The German collecting society GEMA is the first collecting society worldwide to file a lawsuit against OpenAI for the unlicensed use of protected musical works. GEMA accuses the ChatGPT developer of reproducing protected song lyrics without having acquired licenses or paid the authors.

OpenAI has become the world's leading provider in the field of generative AI and now generates annual sales of more than two billion dollars. In 2024, the company is aiming for revenues of up to five billion dollars. According to GEMA, ChatGPT was also trained with copyrighted texts, including song lyrics from the repertoire of the collecting society's approximately 95,000 members. However, they have not yet been remunerated for the use of their works, according to the accusation.

GEMA has therefore filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in the USA and Ireland, where the European subsidiary is based, with the Munich Regional Court to enforce its members' claims. The subject of the lawsuit is the unlicensed reproduction of song lyrics in the chatbot. When simple prompts are entered, the chatbot reproduces the original lyrics of the songs with which the system was trained.

Well-known musicians support lawsuit
Numerous well-known German musicians whose lyrics were demonstrably exploited by the chatbot according to GEMA support the lawsuit - including Kristina Bach ("Atemlos durch die Nacht"), Rolf Zuckowski, Reinhard Mey, Inga Humpe, Tommi Eckart, Ulf Sommer and Peter Plate as well as their music publishers.

"The songs of our members are not the free raw material for the business models of the providers of generative AI systems. Anyone who wants to use these songs must acquire a license and pay the authors fairly," commented GEMA CEO Dr. Tobias Holzmüller.