Munich Court Rules AI Firm Suno Violated Copyright Law

A regional court in Munich ruled on July 31, 2026, that Suno Inc. violated copyright laws by illegally training its AI models on unlicensed German compositions administered by GEMA. Judge Elke Schwager determined that Suno breached both German and U.S. copyright laws by storing protected works within its model weights, a process the court defined as memorization rather than permissible analysis.

The lawsuit specifically cited the unauthorized use of compositions such as Rasputin, Forever Young, and Mambo No. 5, including music from the band Alphaville found on YouTube. The court rejected Suno's arguments regarding U.S. fair use and European Union text-and-data-mining exceptions, concluding that these do not protect AI companies that reproduce copyrighted works in their output. Suno must now cease reproducing the six specific works central to the case, disclose tied revenues, and pay damages to be determined in a separate proceeding.

GEMA CEO Tobias Holzmüller stated the ruling clarifies that AI models based on intellectual property theft are not protected by law, noting the goal is to bring AI providers to licensing negotiations on an eye-to-eye level. German government representative Wolfram Weimer also characterized the verdict as a victory for creators' rights. Suno disagreed with the ruling, claiming it rests on a fundamental mischaracterization of its technology and is currently evaluating an appeal.