AI music generator Suno has lost a copyright infringement lawsuit to German licensing agency GEMA.
Filed in January 2025, the filing saw GEMA argue that Suno was using songs in its repertoire – including Boney M’s ‘Daddy Cool’, Lou Bega’s ‘Mambo No. 5’, and Alphaville’s ‘Forever Young’ – to train its AI models, without obtaining any licenses or paying the songwriters.
The decision was handed down on Friday (July 31) by the Munich Regional Court, and ruled that the AI platform unlawfully obtained, processed and reproduced music that was represented by GEMA. The court found that Suno’s use of the songs was in breach of both the German and US copyright law.
Suno will now need to pay damages to GEMA, although the sum has not yet been confirmed. The ruling also means that other AI companies must now pay to license any music from GEMA’s repertoire going forward.
“Today, the Chamber made one thing crystal clear: AI models built on stolen intellectual property have no protection under the law,” said GEMA’s CEO Dr Tobias Holzmüller after the legal victory (via Reuters).
Congratulations to our friends at GEMA on securing a significant victory in their copyright case against AI music generator Suno.
It’s an important step in ensuring that music creators’ rights are respected and that innovation supports rather than undermines human creativity. pic.twitter.com/6SVBqDqCDS
— PRS for Music (@PRSforMusic) July 31, 2026
“AI service providers must pay for licenses rather than helping themselves to our members’ works free of charge. Today, the court’s verdict has significantly strengthened Europe’s position as a cultural centre,” he added.
GEMA Board chairman Dr Ralf Weigand shared: “This ruling sends a powerful international message: creativity has value, and creators’ rights must be respected in the age of artificial intelligence.
“Through this decision, GEMA has set an important precedent not only for its more than 100,000 members, but for creators worldwide. The fact that we can now enforce our rights in countries including the United States gives creators hope and confidence at a time of profound technological transformation.”
In light of the decision, Suno has said it does not agree with the court’s decision and will be looking into making an appeal (as per MusicTech).
The latest ruling comes on the heels of another legal battle GEMA has been involved in. Last November, the court again ruled in its favour, after it alleged that ChatGPT operator OpenAI had violated European copyright laws.
As for Suno, in 2024, Warner and fellow major music labels Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group filed lawsuits against the company for copyright violations of “an almost unimaginable scale”. In 2025, however, Warner settled the lawsuit by signing a licensing deal with Suno.
There has been a significant rise in AI-generated music available online in recent years, and streaming platform Deezer recently shared that AI-generated music now surpasses 50 per cent of daily uploads on the platform – the first time that human-made music has been outnumbered by AI alternatives.
Deezer has previously tried to combat the rise in music made entirely by artificial intelligence by launching a tool to detect AI-generated music on playlists from 20 different streaming platforms.
Other streaming platforms to crack down on AI-generated music include TIDAL, which confirmed that it will not be paying royalties to any music made entirely by artificial intelligence, and Spotify, which confirmed that it was removing 75million “spammy tracks” and targeting impersonators.
Earlier this year, the UK government announced it was ditching “deeply damaging” plans to allow AI firms to use copyrighted works without permission. The push for change comes as a study conducted last year revealed that 97 per cent of people “can’t tell the difference” between real and AI music.
