A court in Germany found that Suno violated copyright law when it trained its AI music models on recordings owned by artists signed to GEMA, the country’s main music rights organization.
The collective’s lawsuit dates to January 2025, when it accused the text-to-song startup of using protected works without authorization. Judges agreed, ordering Suno to reveal what it earned from the infringement and to pay damages in an amount to be determined. An appeal is still possible.
The ruling hands European rightsholders a notable victory in the fight over generative music. While record labels in the US recently reached settlements with AI music companies, the German court has now found that training on unlicensed catalog music is an infringement rather than a fair-use gray zone.
Suno, best known for its text-to-song tool, has long argued that its systems learn from music the same way humans do. That defense did not hold up in court. The decision could shape how other AI music firms train their models and how they negotiate licensing deals across Europe, where collecting societies control large catalogs on behalf of artists.
For the wider industry, the case is another sign that courts are willing to apply traditional copyright rules to AI training data, even as regulators debate new exceptions.
