Google AI chatbot's use of press items may infringe copyright rules, EU court adviser says
· CNA · JoinRead a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
BRUSSELS, Nov 3 : Google's use of press stories in its Gemini chatbot to respond to queries from internet users can infringe copyright rules in certain circumstances, an adviser to Europe's highest court said on Tuesday.
Advocate General Maciej Szpunar is advising the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union in a case brought by Hungarian website operator Like Company against Google's artificial intelligence chatbot Gemini.
A ruling against Google, forcing the tech giant to pay fees for the use of their content could send a lifeline to online media, such as Like Company. They have seen traffic dwindle as news summaries written by AI chatbots like Gemini increasingly replace traditional search engines' results which include hyperlinks.
"When an LLM (large language model)-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 circumstances," Szpunar said according to a court statement.
CNA Games
Guess Word
Crack the word, one row at a time
Buzzword
Create words using the given letters
Mini Sudoku
Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser
Mini Crossword
Small grid, big challenge
Word Search
Spot as many words as you can
Show More
Show Less
Gemini's answers fall under the publishers' right of reproduction when chatbots get access to publications by unlawfully circumventing paywalls or other technical barriers, or when they reuse "the form of expression of that publication in a recognisable manner", he said.
Copyright rules do not protect the "mere facts" reported by press publications, but "only the specific form of expression", he added.
On the other hand, he said the use of material protected by copyright 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."
Opinions of the advocate general are not binding, but are usually followed by the court's judges.
Newsletter
Week in Review
Subscribe to our Chief Editor’s Week in Review
Our chief editor shares analysis and picks of the week's biggest news every Saturday.
Sign up for our newsletters
Get our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inbox
Get the CNA app
Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories
Get WhatsApp alerts
Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app