Google faces third EU copyright referral over Gemini training in Hungarian publisher's case

What happened

MLex reported on Oct. 12, 2026 that Google faces a third EU copyright referral over its Gemini chatbot, as Hungarian judges seek clarity from the CJEU on whether AI model training falls under the same copyright rules as user-facing chatbot responses, how far copyright exceptions extend, and whether publishers must use technical tools to opt out of training. The referral grows out of a case brought by Hungarian publisher Like Company against Google Ireland, which accuses Google of unlawfully using its press content for Gemini without consent; earlier reporting had the EU's top court probing whether Google's AI training abroad escapes copyright rules.

Why it may matter to you

CJEU rulings set the continent-wide rules for press publishers' rights (DSM Directive Art. 15) and the text-and-data-mining exception (Art. 4), so this referral could define whether model training is treated like the output and what an effective opt-out looks like across the EU.

What is not yet known

When the CJEU will rule; the underlying referral is expected to take more than a year, and MLex's full reporting is paywalled.