Google is facing a potential legal setback in Europe after an adviser to the European Union’s top court supported publishers in a copyright dispute involving artificial intelligence chatbots.
The case centres on whether AI systems can reproduce copyrighted online content without obtaining permission from publishers. The dispute involves Hungarian publisher Like Company, which accused Google’s Gemini chatbot of reproducing material from its articles without authorisation.
In his opinion, Advocate General Maciej Szpunar distinguished between using copyrighted material to train AI models and reproducing protected content in chatbot responses. He indicated that AI training may fall under the EU’s text-and-data-mining copyright exception, while the reproduction of protected material could raise separate copyright concerns.
The dispute highlights growing tensions between technology companies developing generative AI and media organisations seeking to protect their content, intellectual property and commercial interests.
Publishers have increasingly raised concerns that AI chatbots can use their journalism to generate answers without directing users to original websites, potentially affecting readership, traffic and advertising revenue.
Although the Advocate General’s opinion is not binding, the European Court of Justice will consider the legal issues before delivering its final ruling.
The eventual decision could help establish clearer rules on how AI companies use, reproduce and distribute copyrighted content in Europe, with possible implications for the wider global media and technology industries.
Leave a comment