A Munich court has ruled that generative music platform Suno infringed copyright by training on, storing and reproducing songs from the repertoire of Germany’s performing rights society GEMA. The decision is significant because it requires AI companies to license copyrighted material for both model training and generated outputs, strengthening rights holders’ position in the dispute over AI music.

GEMA’s case centred on six songs, including “Atemlos”, “Rasputin” and “Mambo No. 5”, which it said Suno could closely reproduce through simple prompts. GEMA represents about 100,000 members and argued that Suno used their works without licences; Suno had previously said its training data included most reasonably available music online. Suno disputed the ruling, saying it mischaracterised its technology and use.