RegulationHigh importance

Advocate General Szpunar (CJEU): a RAG chatbot may infringe press publishers’ rights in some cases

In the opinion in case C-250/25 Like Company v Google (Gemini), Advocate General Maciej Szpunar (11/03) recommends declaring the questions on LLM training inadmissible (hypothetical in the case) and, in the alternative, that training an LLM on protected works is, as a rule, allowed by the text and data mining exception. On the case’s focus — chatbot answers — he says there may be infringement when the bot retrieves the publication, reuses it and answers the user: (1) if it accessed unlawfully (e.g. bypassing a paywall/technical measures) and/or (2) if the answer recognizably reuses the form of expression to the point of replacing the original. Bare facts are not protected. The provider is liable if the use is inherent to the business model or if it failed to take effective measures. The opinion is not binding; judgment comes later. Google welcomed the TDM recognition and said Gemini “learns patterns” with controls for publishers.