EU Court Adviser Supports Publishers In AI Copyright Case

Legal Tension Over AI Chatbots

An adviser to the Court of Justice of the European Union has provided a significant legal opinion regarding the intersection of artificial intelligence and copyright law. Advocate General Maciej Szpunar is advising the Luxembourg-based court in a case brought by Like Company, a Hungarian website operator, against the Gemini chatbot. The core of the dispute centers on how AI systems utilize copyrighted press stories to respond to internet user queries, a practice that publishers argue occurs without proper compensation.

This case highlights the intensifying friction between traditional media publishers and large technology platforms. Publishers argue that AI chatbots are utilizing their journalistic work to provide direct answers, which undermines the value of the original reporting. This conflict has led to numerous complaints filed with both national and European Union antitrust regulators as the media industry seeks a sustainable financial model in the age of generative AI.

Copyright Infringement And Reproduction

According to the opinion provided by Mr. Szpunar, the rights of press publishers may be infringed under specific circumstances when a large language model retrieves a publication from a website, reuses it to generate an answer, and then delivers that answer to a user. The adviser noted that Gemini’s responses could fall under the publishers’ right of reproduction in two primary scenarios. First, this occurs if the chatbot accesses publications by unlawfully circumventing technical barriers or paywalls. Second, infringement may happen when the AI reuses the specific form of expression of a publication in a recognizable manner.

It is important to note that copyright protections do not extend to the mere facts reported by press publications. Instead, the law protects the specific form of expression used to convey those facts. This distinction is critical in determining whether an AI-generated summary is a permissible use of information or an illegal reproduction of a creative work. The adviser emphasized that while facts are not protected, the unique way a story is written is subject to copyright law.

The Distinction Between Training And Output

While the adviser found potential for infringement in the generation of answers, he drew a clear line regarding the training phase of artificial intelligence. Mr. Szpunar stated that using copyright-protected material to train large language models—AI systems that use vast amounts of text to generate human-like responses and summarize information—is freely permitted under the text and data mining exception. This process is viewed as distinct from the direct reproduction of content for user queries.

In response to the opinion, a spokesperson for the technology company emphasized that text and data mining exceptions are essential for AI development and competitiveness within Europe. The company asserted that its AI learns linguistic patterns to create original outputs rather than simply replicating existing content. Furthermore, they pointed to existing publisher controls that give rightsholders a clear choice and the ability to opt out of such processes.

Implications For Online Media

For online media entities like Like Company, a final ruling against the tech giant could provide a vital financial lifeline. Many publishers have reported a significant decline in web traffic as AI-generated summaries increasingly replace traditional search engine results. Unlike traditional search results, which provide hyperlinks that drive users directly to the original media websites, chatbot summaries often satisfy the user’s curiosity within the chat interface, depriving publishers of essential visits and advertising revenue.

The Court of Justice of the European Union typically follows the non-binding opinions of its advisers. A final ruling is expected in the coming months, which will determine whether the tech giant must pay fees for the use of press content in its AI responses. This decision will likely set a major precedent for how intellectual property is managed in the era of generative artificial intelligence across the European Union, potentially altering the economic relationship between news creators and AI developers.