The first hearing in the Gema v OpenAI case has gone in the German collecting society’s favor. The court hinted that it would recognize ChatGPT’s training on protected songs as reproduction within the meaning of copyright – a strong signal for the entire generative AI sector. In November 2024, Gema – the German equivalent of Sacem – had initiated the first-ever legal action on European soil against OpenAI, arguing that Sam Altman’s company had illegally used the lyrics of German songwriters’ songs to train ChatGPT. It was the very first time in the world that a collecting society had taken action against a generative AI developer. On September 29, 2025, the Munich Regional Court held a hearing on the merits of the case: a number of elements emerged which suggest that the German court will, for the most part, rule in Gema’s favor in its future judgment. Word for word The dispute involves OpenAI Ireland Ltd. and its U.S. parent company OpenAI L.L.C. In its complaint,…
