The Munich Regional Court ruled that Suno, a US company that creates songs from written prompts, infringed copyright and must disclose the revenue it earned and pay damages that have not yet been set. The case was brought by GEMA, the German body that licenses music on behalf of composers and publishers, which argued Suno trained on protected songs without permission. Suno disputes the ruling, questions the court's jurisdiction over training done in the United States, and may appeal, so the decision is not final.
What changed
No German court had ruled on whether training an AI music generator on copyrighted recordings, and producing songs that closely resemble them, infringes copyright; a related GEMA win against OpenAI covered song lyrics only and is under appeal.
What it unlocks
Rights holders in Germany now have a court decision they can cite when pressing AI music companies for licensing deals or damages.
- lawsuit filed January 2025
- ruling issued Friday, 31 July 2026
- GEMA represents more than 95,000 composers, songwriters and publishers in Germany and over 2 million rights holders worldwide
- around 7 million tracks generated on Suno per day
- around 75,000 reach streaming services daily
- dw.com2026-07-31