Google AI Chatbot May Violate Copyright Rules When Using Press Content, EU Court Adviser Says

EU Court Adviser Issues Critical Ruling on Google AI Chatbot Copyright

Advocate General Maciej Szpunar, an adviser to Europe's highest court, issued a significant opinion on Tuesday stating that Google's use of press by AI chatbot Gemini may infringe copyright rules under specific circumstances1

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. The advisory emerged from a legal case brought by Hungarian website operator Like Company against Google, marking a pivotal moment in the ongoing debate surrounding AI and copyright law3

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. This ruling could reshape how tech companies deploy AI-generated answers while using content from press publications.

The Core Copyright Concern with AI-Generated Answers

The Advocate General Maciej Szpunar clarified that when an LLM-driven chatbot retrieves a publication from a press publisher's website, reuses that publication to generate an answer, and provides that answer to the user, the press publisher's right may be infringed in certain circumstances1

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. This distinction matters because it targets the specific way Google AI chatbot Gemini delivers information to users rather than how it learns. The advisory emphasized that copyright rules protect only the specific form of expression, not the mere facts reported by press publications2

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. This nuanced interpretation suggests that verbatim or near-verbatim reproduction of publisher content through AI responses could violate intellectual property rights.

Training Large Language Models Remains Protected

In a crucial distinction that affects the broader AI industry, Szpunar stated that the use of material protected by copyright to train large language models is freely permitted under the text and data mining exception1

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. This separation between training and deployment phases provides clarity for companies developing AI systems. While Google's use of press by AI chatbot during the answer generation phase may face legal scrutiny, the fundamental process of training large language models appears safeguarded under existing EU regulations. This exception acknowledges the technical necessity of exposing AI systems to vast amounts of data during development while still protecting publishers' rights when their content is directly reproduced in user-facing outputs.

Legal Implications and What Comes Next

Opinions from the advocate-general are usually followed by the EU court's judges, giving this advisory substantial weight in shaping future copyright enforcement2

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. The Like Company case against Google could set precedent for how AI companies must navigate copyright rules when deploying chatbots that pull from published content. Publishers and content creators should watch whether the final court ruling establishes clearer boundaries around what constitutes copyright infringement in AI-generated responses. Tech companies may need to implement attribution systems, licensing agreements, or technical modifications to ensure their AI chatbots comply with copyright law while still delivering valuable answers to users. The ruling also raises questions about how other AI platforms beyond Gemini might need to adjust their operations to avoid similar legal challenges in the European market.