Published: 11/3/2026
Source: The AI Musicpreneur
GEMA general counsel Dr. Kai Welp says songwriter and publisher compensation for AI-generated output is now the German collecting society’s leading AI priority.
Welp proposes collective remuneration when an AI song cannot be traced to a specific protected work. Under his concept, AI companies could pay when music is generated, while streaming services, stores, and other commercial users could pay when that music is played.
This is a policy proposal, not current law. Welp argues that litigation over training data alone cannot solve the problem because models may be trained in other jurisdictions or use guardrails that prevent recognizable works from appearing in outputs.
Why it matters: The proposal shifts the copyright debate from “what went into the model?” to “who gets paid when AI output replaces licensed music?” That could eventually affect Suno, Udio, Spotify, background-music businesses, and collecting societies across Europe.