EU court adviser examines chatbot reuse of news

The copyright question for AI includes what a chatbot returns to readers.

What happened

Advocate General Maciej Szpunar has delivered his opinion in Like Company v Google.

He argues that retrieving and reusing news in chatbot answers may infringe publishers' rights in certain circumstances, including unlawful access or recognisable reuse of protected expression.

The opinion is non-binding. A court judgment will follow; this is not a final ruling.

Why it matters

News retrieval and answer generation can bring publishers' rights into play separately from model training. The opinion examines circumstances in which a chatbot's use of news may cross a legal boundary.

The bigger picture

The next milestone is the Court's judgment. An advocate general's opinion can inform that process, but it does not settle the case or establish a blanket prohibition on chatbot use of news.