GEMA, the German performing rights organization (PRO), today sued OpenAI for copyright infringement at the Munich District Court, alleging that the technology company used without permission lyrics from songs in which GEMA licenses rights. This makes GEMA the first PRO to file such a lawsuit, although it controls certain rights that US societies do not have. This also appears to be the first instance involving lyrics only. the case does not include recordings. In its statement, GEMA described the lawsuit as a “model for action,” aimed at clarifying copyright law in Germany and potentially across Europe.
Since OpenAI offers copyrighted song lyrics upon request, GEMA claims that the company trained its software on song lyrics that it has the license rights to, so it is suing the company for distribution and reproduction right violations. (Disposal is a right under European law which in this case is roughly analogous to the right of public performance or in this case public display. They also claim two infringing reproductions – one for absorbing the lyrics for educational purposes and the other when it's output.) In the US, PROs don't control mechanical rights, so they wouldn't be able to file such a lawsuit.
So far, most of the music business lawsuits involving AI companies have involved the ingestion of recordings, although this would by definition also involve the underlying compositions. But OpenAI already faces a significant number of differences, including a alleged class action by the authors, a lawsuit from The New York Timesand from one of online publishers and other newspapers. The issue in the US is whether copying to train an AI qualifies as a “fair use” exception to copyright law. The record labels' cases against Suno and Udio will be on the same principle.
European copyright law provides for “exceptions and limitations” to copyright, rather than fair use, and the 2019 Copyright Directive allows text and data mining unless rights holders opt out. In this case, however, GEMA has opted out for all projects it licenses. (GEMA does not license the lyrics for all the songs in its repertoire, but the lawsuit concerns those for which it does.) This lawsuit aims to clarify the law and has the support of some major German songwriters, as well as their publishers.
“Our members' songs are not free raw material for AI system providers' business models,” said GEMA CEO Tobias Holzmüller in a statement. “Anyone who wants to use these songs must obtain permission and pay the creators fairly. We have developed a license model for this. We have and will always take legal action against unauthorized use.”
The lawsuit comes as rights holders around the world are increasingly concerned about how artificial intelligence will affect the value of their works, as well as how they should be compensated for how they are trained. In late September, GEMA unveiled a licensing model for production AI software that would compensate songwriters and publishers. It has also sent letters to AI companies stating that they must license GEMA projects to use them.
Since OpenAI also operates servers and makes content available in Germany, it should presumably operate under German law. This seems clearer than the US system, where proper usage often involves considerable uncertainty. However, European countries do not offer rights holders the opportunity to collect compensation as high as they can in the US
An OpenAI representative did not immediately return a request for comment.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/gema-sues-openai-song-lyrics-copyright-law-europe/
