LAION Wins Landmark Kneschke Copyright Case in German Court

Sep 28, 2024, 12:10 PM

LAION has successfully defended a copyright infringement challenge in a German court. This landmark case is the first in Europe to test the text and data mining (TDM) exceptions in the DSM Directive. The court ruled that using a photo to train AI did not infringe on the plaintiff's copyright. This decision is significant for free and open-source AI organizations, confirming that they can use copyrighted material for training without infringing copyright. However, the court's dicta suggests that commercial AI must respect opt-outs. The case, known as Kneschke, found LAION’s copying of images non-infringing.