Munich Court Holds First Hearing in GEMA v. Suno AI Copyright Case, March 2026

On 9 March 2026, the Landgericht München I (Munich Regional Court I) held the first oral hearing in proceedings brought by GEMA, the German music rights management organization, against Suno Inc., the developer of the Suno AI music generation service. GEMA filed the lawsuit in 2025 alleging that Suno used GEMA-administered musical works without authorisation to train its AI model. The hearing is at an early procedural stage; the court has not issued a judgment. The court has indicated a decision date of 12 June 2026.

The claim rests on the Urheberrechtsgesetz (UrhG) — the German Copyright Act — and in particular on the exclusive reproduction right under section 16 UrhG and the right of communication to the public under section 15 UrhG, as well as on the text and data mining provisions of sections 44b and 60d UrhG. Sections 44b and 60d UrhG permit text and data mining of lawfully accessible content under specific conditions, including a reservation of rights by rights holders. GEMA contends that rights holders reserved their rights and that Suno's training activities therefore do not fall within the statutory text and data mining exceptions.

Music publishers, labels, and rights management organisations whose catalogues are accessible online should review whether they have issued an explicit reservation of rights under section 44b(3) UrhG, which enables rights holders to opt out of the text and data mining exception. AI developers and deployers that use musical works in training data for generative models operating in Germany or within the European Union must assess whether applicable text and data mining exceptions under Directive (EU) 2019/790 (the Digital Single Market Directive) and its national implementing legislation cover their specific activities. The GEMA action is the first German court proceeding to examine the copyright status of AI music training.

The case raises unresolved questions under German and EU law about the scope of the text and data mining exceptions and the applicable standard for establishing infringement where AI-generated output cannot be directly traced to a specific training sample. The court's reasoning on 12 June 2026, whether a judgment or a further procedural order, will be the first German judicial statement on AI music copyright.

Source: GEMA, Press Release, "GEMA klagt gegen Suno: Landgericht München verhandelt erstes Verfahren im Bereich Audio-KI," 9 March 2026, https://www.gema.de/de/w/gema-klagt-gegen-suno-2026 (confirmed 18 March 2026).

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