EU Court Adviser Says Google's Gemini May Infringe Press Publishers' Rights

An adviser to the Court of Justice of the European Union said on November 3 that AI chatbots such as Google's Gemini may infringe press publishers' rights when they retrieve and reuse news articles in real time to answer users.

The case comes from Hungary. Hungarian web publisher Like Company sued Google in Budapest, claiming Gemini reproduced and made its articles available to the public between June 2023 and May 2024. It is the first generative AI case to reach the EU's top court.

Two tests for infringement. Advocate General Maciej Szpunar said it depends on whether the chatbot accessed the article unlawfully, for example by getting around a paywall or anti-scraping measures, and whether its answer reuses the article's form of expression so recognisably that users no longer need to read the original. Merely reporting facts is not covered. He added that the chatbot provider is liable where such use is inherent to its business model or it has not taken credible steps to prevent it.

Training questions set aside. Szpunar advised the court to declare the questions about LLM training inadmissible, but suggested training is generally allowed under the EU text and data mining exception. His opinion is not binding, and the court will rule at a later date.