Urheberrechtliche Zulässigkeit der Nutzung des Outputs einer Künstlichen Intelligenz

In principle, third parties have the right to exploit the output of an AI such as ChatGPT if it contains copyrightable elements created by them. This is the case even if the output contains such elements only by chance (and not because they were part of the user input or of the training data). If the output contains such elements, its exploitation or communication to the public is not permitted under Section 23 (1) and, as a rule, also not permissible under Section 51 or Section 51a of the German Copyright Law (UrhG). In individual cases, however, such use may be permissible under Section 57 UrhG if the adopted elements constitute only insignificant incidental works. In addition, it may always be permissible in individual cases on the basis of the limitations that permit use for specific purposes or in specific contexts.