EU Adviser Says Google Gemini May Breach Copyright
An advisory opinion to the EU's top court says Gemini's use of press publications may infringe copyright rules, while training AI models on copyrighted material is freely permitted.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
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EU Advocate General Maciej Szpunar advised the Court of Justice of the European Union that Google's Gemini chatbot use of press publications may infringe copyright rules. The opinion, issued November 3, 2026, notes that copyright protects only the specific form of expression, not the underlying facts reported.
Why it matters
The advisory opinion addresses how AI chatbots that retrieve and reuse press content fit within existing copyright law. Opinions from the advocate-general are usually followed by the court's judges, so the position could shape how publishers and AI developers operate across the EU.
The advisory opinion is not a court ruling and carries no quantitative metrics in the source material. The court's final judgment on the Gemini case has not been issued and remains pending.
The players
Maciej Szpunar
Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union who issued the advisory opinion on Gemini and copyright.
Technology company that operates the Gemini chatbot at the center of the copyright dispute.
The details
The case was brought by Hungarian website operator Like Company against Google. The advocate-general distinguished between retrieving a publication from a press publisher's website and reusing it to generate an answer delivered to the user, which he said raises infringement questions.
Timeline
November 3, 2026: Advocate General Szpunar issued the advisory opinion.
Big Picture
The opinion applies the EU text and data mining exception to AI training, finding training on copyrighted material freely permitted, while treating chatbot reuse of press output as a separate question. This split places the Gemini case at the boundary between the exception and traditional copyright protection of press expression.
Publishers may see their articles reused in AI chatbot answers without clicks back to their sites, affecting traffic and licensing negotiations. Users of AI chatbots could see the answers they receive change depending on how the court ultimately rules on press content reuse.
The takeaway
Whether AI chatbots can reuse press content without permission remains unsettled, and the final EU court ruling will determine how publishers and developers handle that reuse. Readers following AI and copyright should watch for the Court of Justice's judgment.
Further reading
Explore more on Artificial Intelligence developments shaping copyright and publishing.
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