CJEU: AG Szpunar Delivers Opinion on AI and Copyright Interplay

Advocate General (AG) Szpunar delivered his Opinion in the case *Like Company*, C-250/25, before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on the morning of its release, marking the first referral to the CJEU concerning the interplay between copyright/related rights and Artificial Intelligence (AI), though the AG notably advised against answering questions specifically related to Large Language Model (LLM) training.

This Opinion represents a landmark development for intellectual property law within the EU, offering initial guidance on how existing copyright frameworks might be applied to rapidly evolving AI technologies. While an AG's Opinion is not binding, it frequently influences the CJEU's final judgment, making this a crucial indicator for future legal interpretations. The AG's advice to sidestep specific LLM training questions suggests the complexity and potentially premature nature of addressing such nuanced issues within the current referral, or perhaps a preference for more targeted legislative intervention. This will have significant implications for content creators, AI developers, and businesses that rely on AI-generated content or utilize AI for data processing.

The legal context for this case is rooted in EU copyright law, primarily the InfoSoc Directive (Directive 2001/29/EC) and potentially the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive (Directive 2019/790), which includes provisions for text and data mining exceptions. The CJEU serves as the highest court in the EU for interpreting EU law, and its rulings are binding on national courts. AG Opinions are an integral part of the CJEU's preliminary ruling procedure, where national courts refer questions of EU law for authoritative interpretation. The specific questions referred by the national court in *Like Company* are not detailed in the excerpt, but they clearly pertain to the scope of copyright protection and its exceptions in the context of AI. The outcome of this matter is not yet reported, as the CJEU's final judgment will follow the AG's Opinion.

The key parties involved are Advocate General Szpunar, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), and the parties to the national case *Like Company*, whose specific identities are not provided in the excerpt. More broadly, AI developers, content creators, and copyright holders across the EU are significant stakeholders in the implications of this case.

Practitioners advising clients in the creative industries, technology sector, or any business leveraging AI should meticulously review AG Szpunar's full Opinion once it is published, and subsequently the CJEU's eventual judgment in *Like Company*. The AG's cautious approach to LLM training, even if advisory, signals potential challenges in applying current copyright law to advanced AI applications. Attorneys should also closely monitor ongoing legislative developments, particularly discussions surrounding the EU AI Act and any potential future copyright reforms, as these will collectively shape the legal landscape for AI and intellectual property. Businesses should proactively assess their current AI development and deployment strategies for potential copyright infringement risks and consider robust licensing strategies for training data.