Google has faced a setback in a dispute over how its Gemini AI assistant uses news articles. Maciej Szpunar, an advocate general at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), has said that Gemini could infringe publishers’ rights in certain circumstances when it retrieves and reuses their work to answer users’ questions.
The opinion is not binding. The CJEU’s judges must still deliver a ruling, after which a Hungarian court will decide the dispute itself, including whether an infringement occurred and whether compensation is due.
The case began in Hungary, where news publisher Like Company sued Google, arguing that Gemini used its publications without permission. The court file describes an example involving a report about Hungarian singer Kozsó and a proposed dolphin aquarium beside Lake Balaton. Gemini generated a detailed summary of the story in response to a user’s request, prompting the publisher to challenge how its content had been used.
Szpunar’s view does not mean that every AI answer based on news content violates copyright. European law distinguishes between the facts in an article and the particular way those facts are expressed, which may be protected. The opinion says Gemini could infringe publishers’ rights if it reproduces their work in a recognizable form or accesses it by circumventing effective technical protection measures.
The opinion also addresses the training of AI models. Text and data mining exceptions may apply under certain conditions, but Szpunar proposes that the court not answer questions on that issue in this case because there is no evidence that Like Company’s articles were used to train Gemini.
The dispute highlights publishers’ concerns that AI summaries can give users information without sending them to the original article. That can reduce opportunities for publishers to earn advertising revenue or attract subscribers. While some AI platforms have commercial agreements with certain publishers, the source report notes that not all outlets receive compensation for the use of their content.
The CJEU will now decide how EU law applies to the questions referred by the Hungarian court. Its ruling will be binding, but the national court will determine the outcome of Like Company’s case and any consequences, including possible financial compensation.
Sources: Xataka.