Google has argued that its search summaries point people at material rather than publish statements of their own. A regional court in Aachen has now rejected that position, following an earlier ruling from Munich.
The case started with a physician who had served as chief physician and professor of neuroradiology until late June 2026. On August 28 a colleague told him that queries about his departure were returning claims of a sexual assault against his secretary, plus invented suspension, termination and court proceedings.
None of it involved him. The system had pulled events concerning a different former professor and attached them to his name, then filled in a multi-paragraph legal aftermath that never happened. The Aachen court could verify the mix-up against its own records, because the criminal case belonged to someone else.
He asked Google to remove the material by email in late August. The company said in mid-September it would take no action. A formal legal demand drew confirmation of receipt, and the disputed text stayed live.
The court issued a preliminary injunction dated September 24, 2026, barring further spread of three variants of the false claims, acting on an emergency basis without a prior hearing. Violations carry fines up to EUR 250,000.
Its reasoning borrowed directly from Munich Regional Court I, which ruled in late May that AI summaries count as the company’s own content, describing the output as independent and new statements assembled from third-party sources. Google appealed that case, then settled, so no higher court has ever tested the theory. Aachen’s decision is not final and can be challenged.
