German Court Rules Suno Illegally Trained AI Model on Copyrighted Songs

A Munich court has dealt a significant legal setback to Suno, ruling on Friday that the AI music company violated German copyright law by training its model on songs without securing licenses from the rights holders.

The decision, issued by the Munich Regional Court, hands a major victory to GEMA, Germany's performance rights collection society, which filed suit against Suno at the start of 2025 over the unauthorized use of compositions including Boney M.'s "Rasputin," Alphaville's "Forever Young" and Lou Bega's "Mambo No. 5."

The court found that Suno had no legal basis under German copyright statutes to feed these German-owned compositions into its AI system without compensating the songwriters and publishers involved. Judges ordered the company to pay damages, though the exact amount has yet to be determined, and Suno retains the right to appeal the ruling. Both GEMA and Suno issued statements Friday acknowledging the substance of the decision.

GEMA CEO Tobias Holzmüller framed the outcome as a broader statement about the limits of AI development built on unlicensed material, saying the court had made clear that AI models built on intellectual property theft don't enjoy legal protection. He argued that AI companies are obligated to obtain proper licensing rather than use members' works without payment, and suggested the ruling reinforces Europe's standing as a hub for creative industries, noting that operating a system on European soil opens the door to legal accountability in European courts.

Suno pushed back firmly against the decision, stating it disagreed with the ruling and describing it as resting on a flawed understanding of its technology, how the platform is actually used, and how American law applies to the dispute. The company said it is weighing its options, including a possible appeal.

In a separate statement, Suno reiterated its founding mission of enabling anyone to enjoy the process of creating music, emphasizing that its tools are designed to help a wide range of users, from established artists to everyday hobbyists, generate original songs rather than replicate existing ones, and that it has built safeguards into its platform to that effect.

The German case arrived roughly seven months after Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music jointly sued both Suno and competitor Udio in the United States in 2024, alleging copyright infringement tied to the companies' AI training practices.

The two legal battles differ substantially in scope: GEMA's lawsuit centers on musical compositions, while the major labels' case concerns sound recordings. The distinction matters because the U.S. and European Union operate under different copyright frameworks, meaning the two proceedings could reach very different conclusions.

In the American case, Suno and Udio have leaned heavily on the fair use doctrine, arguing their training methods fall within its protections.

Not all of the major labels remain locked in litigation with the AI companies. Warner Music Group settled its dispute with Suno late last year through a licensing agreement, and both Warner and Universal have struck comparable deals with Udio. Sony Music and Universal, however, continue to pursue their claims against Suno, and Sony remains engaged in active litigation against Udio as well. Those cases are still working through the discovery phase, meaning substantive rulings are likely still months away.

This isn't the first time the Munich court has sided with GEMA against a major AI company. The society sued OpenAI two years ago over alleged infringement of its members' song lyrics by ChatGPT, and the same Munich Regional Court ruled in GEMA's favor in that case this past November, adding to a growing pattern of European courts pushing back against AI firms' training practices.