German court says "It's AI" isn't enough to void copyright

A German regional court has ruled that lyrics written by a person remain protected by copyright, even if the accompanying music was generated by AI - in this case, SunoAI.

The plaintiff wrote the lyrics in April 2025 and handed them to a producer, who then used AI to create a song from them. According to the ruling, the plaintiff continued working on the lyrics during the AI production process and made changes herself.

Another artist asked for the rights to the lyrics, was turned down, but used significant parts of the lyrics in her own song anyway - distributing it on Spotify and other platforms. She even admitted on Twitch that she was going on tour with a song that didn't belong to her. On Instagram, she promoted the track with the words "Come all in before the song gets banned."

Defense claimed AI-generated text can't be copyrighted

In the proceedings, the opposing party argued that the lyrics were entirely AI-generated, backed by an expert opinion from a music specialist. The expert pointed to logical breaks, formulaic sentence structures, and a lack of poetic quality as signs of a machine-generated product. Because of this, the defense claimed there was no copyright and the plaintiff had no grounds to assert any rights.

The court made clear that if someone brings concrete evidence that a work is AI-generated, the other side needs to lay out their creative process in detail. In this case, though, the plaintiff had submitted a credible affidavit saying she wrote the text herself. The court also pointed out that stylistic breaks can be a form of artistic freedom, especially in song lyrics. The expert opinion didn't move the needle.

The court confirmed a temporary injunction against the distribution company and prohibited both the distribution and advertising of the song. The decision is subject to appeal.

Claiming "it's AI" won't easily void copyright

The ruling sets a useful precedent for anyone working with AI tools. Claiming that someone else's content is AI-generated, and therefore free to use, might not hold up without solid proof. At the same time, creators who document their own writing process, including if and how they used AI, have a much stronger position if a dispute ends up in court.