German collecting society GEMA won its copyright-infringement lawsuit against AI music startup Suno on July 31, 2026.
Munich Regional Court Rules Suno Violated German Copyright Law
The Munich I Regional Court’s 42nd Civil Chamber ruled in favor of German collecting society GEMA on July 31, 2026, delivering a first-instance judgment against the U.S.-headquartered AI music generator. GEMA had filed the lawsuit in January 2025, alleging that Suno used, stored, and reproduced protected music to train its AI tool without a license or payment to the rightsholders.
Judge Elke Schwager agreed with the collecting society’s arguments, granting claims for injunctive relief, disclosure, and damages against Suno by GEMA. The court specifically targeted musical works such as Rasputin
, Daddy Cool
, and Mambo No. 5
, concluding that Suno’s models memorized copyrighted training data and reproduced it in user outputs.
The court is convinced that the musical pieces in question are reproducibly contained in the defendant’s models, versions v3.5 and v4. These models were stored on servers in Germany,
the court stated in its musically.com.
GEMA General Counsel and CEO Hail Verdict as Global Milestone
GEMA CEO Tobias Holzmüller, who previously criticized generative AI platforms for lacking basic principles of transparency, fairness and respect, pointed to the broad implications of the Munich ruling.
Holzmüller elaborated on the wider industry stakes in a separate statement published by GEMA, emphasizing that AI models based on the theft of intellectual property are not protected by law
and insisting that developers must acquire licenses rather than using member works for free.
The German government also weighed in on the dispute. Wolfram Weimer, the German government’s culture representative, called the verdict an important signal supporting digital music creators and called for a clear regulatory framework that balances innovation with protecting creativity.
Suno Disputes the Legal Characterization and Weighs an Appeal
Suno, valued at $5.4 billion following a June funding round where it raised over $400 million in a Series D, firmly rejected the court’s conclusions. The Massachusetts-based startup, which reported surpassing 2 million paid subscribers and targeting $300 million in annual revenue, defended its core technology in a statement.
“We disagree with today’s ruling – which rests on a fundamental mischaracterization of how Suno’s technology works, how it is used and how U.S. law applies — and are evaluating all available options, including an appeal.”
Suno spokesperson, via Music Business Worldwide
The company maintained that its models were built from the ground up to create new songs, not reproduce existing ones, and highlighted built-in platform protections. Under the first-instance ruling, Suno must now disclose revenue figures associated with illicit revenue and pay damages, though the company retains the right to take the dispute to a higher court.
Broader Legal Fronts Across Europe and the United States
The Munich ruling is part of an escalating international legal confrontation between rightsholders and generative AI developers. GEMA previously secured a win at the same Munich court in November 2025 against OpenAI regarding ChatGPT’s use of German song lyrics. Both decisions originated in the court’s 42nd Civil Chamber.
Meanwhile, Suno faces simultaneous litigation in the United States and Europe. Major record labels represented by the RIAA—including Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group—sued Suno and rival platform Udio in June 2024 over allegations of mass infringement. While Warner Music Group settled its case and struck a licensing partnership with Suno in November 2025, litigation continues with Universal and Sony.
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