> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.promptthemarket.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # EU court adviser says Gemini answers can breach publishers' rights - URL: https://www.promptthemarket.com/eu-court-adviser-gemini-answers-publishers-rights/ - Published: 2026-11-04T19:30:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T19:29:59.000Z - Description: Advocate General Maciej Szpunar set a two-part test in Like Company v Google; the same opt-outs it relies on apply to Australian publishers negotiating with Google. - Author: Editor News - Tags: AI, Europe, Google, #author-james-dore ![James Dore](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e4/01/e4017178-c1da-4131-80aa-35f02cb5b999/content/images/2026/09/james-dore.jpg) By **James Dore** ยท 2026-10-22 TLDR An adviser to the EU's top court says a chatbot answer can infringe a press publisher's rights in two situations: when the chatbot got the article by getting around a block on bots, or when its answer is close enough to the article to replace it. The opinion in Like Company v Google is not binding, but it is the clearest legal test yet for a question Australian publishers are also negotiating. KEY TAKEAWAYS 01Advocate General Maciej Szpunar delivered his opinion in Like Company v Google (C-250/25) on 3 November. 02He said a chatbot answer can infringe if the article was obtained by getting around measures meant to stop bots, or if the answer is a direct substitute for it. 03Facts in a news story are not protected; the form of expression is. 04He leans towards the EU text and data mining exception covering AI training, subject to lawful access and publisher opt-outs. 05The opinion is not binding, and no judgment date has been set. ## The case Advocate General Maciej Szpunar delivered his opinion in case C-250/25, Like Company v Google Ireland, on 3 November. The case was referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union by a regional court near Budapest, and was heard on 10 March.[\[1\]](https://infocuria.curia.europa.eu/tabs/affair?lang=en&publishedId=C-250%2F25&ref=promptthemarket.com) Like Company runs ad-funded Hungarian news portals, including balatonkornyeke.hu. It says Google's Bard chatbot, and then Gemini, infringed its rights as a press publisher between June 2023 and May 2024.[\[2\]](https://ppc.land/googles-gemini-can-infringe-press-rights-in-2-ways-eu-court-adviser-says/?ref=promptthemarket.com) ## Two ways to infringe Szpunar set out two situations in which a chatbot's answer can infringe. The first is access: the chatbot reached the article by getting around "a measure designed specifically to prevent access and/or scraping by internet bots". The second is substitution: the answer reproduces the article's form of expression so closely that it becomes "a direct substitute for the publication".[\[2\]](https://ppc.land/googles-gemini-can-infringe-press-rights-in-2-ways-eu-court-adviser-says/?ref=promptthemarket.com) Facts are not protected. Copyright covers a "specific form of expression", not "mere facts", the adviser said, so a chatbot that reports what happened in its own words is not automatically infringing.[\[3\]](https://www.bandt.com.au/eu-court-adviser-warns-that-googles-ai-chatbot-may-be-breaching-copyright-rules/?ref=promptthemarket.com) He also doubted that Like Company's own example, a summary of a local news story, met his test.[\[2\]](https://ppc.land/googles-gemini-can-infringe-press-rights-in-2-ways-eu-court-adviser-says/?ref=promptthemarket.com) ## Training and opt-outs On training, Szpunar said he "tend\[s\] to think" the EU's text and data mining exception can apply, provided the developer had lawful access and respected publishers' opt-outs, which can be machine-readable signals such as robots.txt or Google's Google-Extended token.[\[2\]](https://ppc.land/googles-gemini-can-infringe-press-rights-in-2-ways-eu-court-adviser-says/?ref=promptthemarket.com) Google seized on that part. "We acknowledge the Advocate General's opinion recognising that EU law permits AI training on publicly available information," a spokesperson said. Google says publishers can opt out of its AI features without affecting their search rankings.[\[3\]](https://www.bandt.com.au/eu-court-adviser-warns-that-googles-ai-chatbot-may-be-breaching-copyright-rules/?ref=promptthemarket.com) ## What it means here The opinion is advice to the court, not a ruling, and no judgment date has been set.[\[2\]](https://ppc.land/googles-gemini-can-infringe-press-rights-in-2-ways-eu-court-adviser-says/?ref=promptthemarket.com) It has no force in Australia. But the same opt-outs apply to Australian sites, and Australian publishers are having the same argument about what AI use of their work is worth: Google's AI licensing pilot pays some publishers [less than 0.1% of their ad revenue](https://www.promptthemarket.com/google-ai-pilot-pays-some-publishers-under-0-1-of-ad-revenue/), as Prompt the Market has reported. Szpunar's test moves that argument from whether AI may read the news to when an AI answer starts to replace it. SOURCES & CITATIONS 1. [Case C-250/25 Like Company, InfoCuria, Court of Justice of the European Union](https://infocuria.curia.europa.eu/tabs/affair?lang=en&publishedId=C-250%2F25&ref=promptthemarket.com) 2. [Google's Gemini can infringe press rights in 2 ways, EU court adviser says, PPC Land](https://ppc.land/googles-gemini-can-infringe-press-rights-in-2-ways-eu-court-adviser-says/?ref=promptthemarket.com) 3. [EU court adviser says Google's AI chatbot may be breaching copyright rules, B&T](https://www.bandt.com.au/eu-court-adviser-warns-that-googles-ai-chatbot-may-be-breaching-copyright-rules/?ref=promptthemarket.com) ![James Dore](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e4/01/e4017178-c1da-4131-80aa-35f02cb5b999/content/images/2026/09/james-dore.jpg) [James Dore](https://www.promptthemarket.com/james-dore/) James Dore is founder and editor of Prompt the Market and Strategy Director at Bushnote, a Sydney strategy, SEO and AI search agency. He has a background in strategy, media and financial services, and led consumer product marketing at MONEYME. He writes on AI search, answer engines, technology policy and media economics.