The rapid development of artificial intelligence technology has brought many conveniences, but it has also raised many legal and ethical issues, especially in terms of copyright. This article will focus on the lawsuit initiated by the German music copyright organization GEMA against OpenAI and explore its far-reaching impact on the AI industry and intellectual property protection. The editor of Downcodes will give you an in-depth analysis of this landmark event.
Today, with the rapid development of artificial intelligence, copyright issues are becoming a new challenge faced by AI companies. On November 13, 2024, the German music copyright organization GEMA filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in the Munich District Court, becoming the world's first copyright collective management organization to take legal action against an AI supplier.
GEMA pointed out that OpenAI’s ChatGPT copied and used copyrighted lyric content without obtaining appropriate permission and paying royalties. The lawsuit targets both OpenAI LLC in the United States and OpenAI Ireland Ltd, which is responsible for European business.
GEMA CEO Dr. Tobias Holzmüller emphasizes: Our members’ works are not free raw materials for AI companies’ business models. According to research from GEMA, generative AI services may cost songwriters up to 27% of their income. For members of GEMA and French copyright organization SACEM, this means potential losses of up to 2.7 billion euros by 2028. The survey also showed that 71% of creators believe that AI is threatening their financial stability.
The lawsuit goes beyond the use of lyrics and is likely to affect how AI companies handle all types of protected content, including unlicensed audio file generation services. GEMA particularly highlighted the differences between the U.S. and European legal systems: While U.S. courts may accept the fair use defense and allow certain free uses, European regulations are stricter and require AI companies to obtain authorization from the copyright owner to use protected works. Conduct training.
To address this issue, GEMA recently proposed an AI system licensing framework that requires AI models to pay 30% of net revenue as royalties. This plan covers both the initial training of AI and the subsequent use of AI-generated music content, aiming to ensure that creators can receive reasonable compensation from all commercial benefits brought by their works.
Although OpenAI recently won a copyright lawsuit against a news organization in the United States based on a fair use defense, the legal environment remains complex when it comes to AI training, generation, and use of copyrighted data. The outcome of this lawsuit may have a profound impact on the future development of the AI industry, especially in terms of how to balance technological innovation and intellectual property protection.
This lawsuit between GEMA and OpenAI marks the official beginning of the conflict between the development of artificial intelligence and the protection of intellectual property rights. The final result will have a profound impact on the future development direction of the AI industry and the improvement of the global intellectual property legal framework, and deserves continued attention. The editor of Downcodes will continue to follow up and report on the latest progress.