In a landmark decision for Germany, the Munich Local Court (Amtsgericht München) ruled that logos generated by Artificial Intelligence are not automatically protected under copyright law unless there is sufficient and recognizable human creative contribution (case no. 142 C 9786/25).
The court clarified that copyright protection under German law (Urheberrechtsgesetz – UrhG) depends on whether the AI-generated result bears the creative imprint of the human author’s personality. Human contribution may arise both during the prompting process and subsequently through editing or modification of the generated content.
However, the court emphasized that the human influence must be clear, objectively recognizable, and decisively shape the final outcome. In the case at hand, the prompts were considered overly generic, resulting in the creative output being attributed primarily to the AI algorithms rather than to human creative decisions.
Consequently, the court found that there was no sufficient creative expression of the plaintiff’s personality in the disputed logos and denied them copyright protection.
The decision is considered particularly important for companies, designers, and legal professionals, as it establishes a clear framework for when AI-generated works may qualify as protectable copyright works.
See the decision below
https://www.gesetze-bayern.de/Content/Document/Y-300-Z-BECKRS-B-2026-N-1513?hl=true