German music rights org GEMA takes US AI music startup Suno to court for alleged infringement
GEMA, Germany’s music rights organization, has filed a lawsuit against US-based Suno Inc. in Munich District Court.
The organization claims Suno’s AI music tool used copyrighted recordings from GEMA’s repertoire without proper licensing or artist compensation. According to GEMA, the AI tool creates music that closely resembles popular songs like “Forever Young” and “Atemlos.”
GEMA CEO Dr. Tobias Holzmüller argues that the AI market needs to show more respect for creators’ rights, while supervisory board chairman Dr. Ralf Weigand calls for new legal frameworks to ensure fair compensation from AI companies.
This case follows GEMA’s November 2024 lawsuit against OpenAI over ChatGPT’s use of copyrighted song lyrics. GEMA has proposed that AI companies should pay 30% of their net revenue for using copyrighted materials.
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In the grand scheme of things, it’s just another lawsuit between copyright holders and AI companies, while the world still waits for a definitive fair use rule when it comes to training AI systems with copyrighted data.
Suno isn’t just facing pressure from GEMA – major record labels have also filed copyright lawsuits against the company. In response, Suno co-founder Mikey Shulman argues that critics misunderstand their technology. He says their AI learns musical patterns and structures – similar to how a person learns by listening to music – rather than copying specific songs. This “learning isn’t stealing” defense mirrors arguments made by other AI companies in similar cases.
