A Watershed Moment for Music Rights in the Age of AI

By David Serras, Unison Rights

AI, Creativity and Collective Management

Last week, the Munich Regional Court ruled in favour of GEMA in its case against OpenAI, finding that ChatGPT had reproduced protected lyrics from German songs without authorisation.

While the judgment does not prohibit the use of copyrighted works for AI training, it clarifies that memorising and reproducing creative works without licence constitutes infringement, an important step for the collective management world.

At Unison, we welcome this decision and congratulate our colleagues at GEMA. The case represents an important moment for collective rights organisations everywhere: it reinforces that creativity has value, and that creators’ works cannot be absorbed and reused by technology without respect for their rights.

This ruling also underlines something deeper: the responsibility of CMOs and independent rights organisations to lead in defining how innovation and licensing can coexist fairly in the AI era. And that is exactly where Unison has been focusing its efforts.

 

Our Perspective: Building the Licensing Frameworks of the AI Age

For Unison, the conversation around AI is not just about legal boundaries, it’s about opportunity. We see an urgent need to modernise the way rights are identified, cleared and remunerated in emerging technological environments.

Unison is actively engaged in shaping and exploring licensing solutions for the AI landscape, ensuring that the use of musical and lyrical works happens transparently and that creators, publishers and right-holders share in the value they generate.

Our work in this field is guided by three principles:

1. Innovation must respect creation.

2. Transparency must accompany every use.

3. Value must flow back to the people who make music possible.

 

BELEM: Turning Principles into Action

A clear example of this vision in motion is the BELEM project (Boosting European Lyrics and their Monetisation), integrated by Unison together with a consortium of European partners.

BELEM was created to restore visibility and value to lyrics, one of the most powerful yet under-monetised assets in the digital ecosystem. 

In an era when AI systems, lyric displays, and translation tools are reshaping how music is consumed, BELEM offers concrete, creator-centred solutions:

1. Monetisation Boost: By improving metadata standards and interoperability between publishers, CMOs and DSPs, BELEM helps partners unlock new revenue streams from lyrics, including translation, adaptation and visual display.

2. Right-Holder Awareness: Through workshops, reports and educational tools, BELEM equips songwriters, publishers and CMOs with the knowledge they need to understand how lyrics circulate digitally — and how to protect and monetise their use.

3. Innovation Through BELEM Lyric Studio: The Lyric Studio is a multilingual, AI-assisted environment that facilitates lyric translation and adaptation while maintaining authorship integrity and transparent licensing. It is a practical example of how technology can empower, not replace, human creativity.

These outcomes show that the goals of innovation and authorship are not mutually exclusive, they can thrive together when guided by strong rights frameworks and fair licensing practices.

 

From Collective Management to Collective Leadership

The Munich ruling serves as a reminder that the collective management community must not only protect existing rights but also lead the conversation on how those rights evolve.
Unison believes that Confrontation is a necessary step when rights are not respected, but aiming for constructive engagement between creators, CMOs, policymakers and AI developers.

Through projects like BELEM, through constant dialogue with platforms and partners, and through our ongoing modernisation of licensing processes, Unison is helping define how creativity and technology can coexist sustainably.

 

Looking Ahead

As the AI and music worlds continue to converge, Unison will keep investing in knowledge, technology and partnerships that protect and amplify the value of human creation.
The GEMA decision is a milestone, but it is also a reminder that progress will come from building, not from waiting.

At Unison, we are already building that future, one where innovation serves creativity, and creators remain at the heart of every new technology.

 

David Serras Pereira, 

Licensing and International Manager

Unison