this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2026
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This article is out of date because Google has decided to appeal in the meantime.
This verdict is not legally effective yet. And it may never be. On the high seas and in a German courtroom, the people say, you're in God's hand. The next higher court can send this back to the lower court or could overrule it all together. And if they don't do any of that, Google can go to the next higher court. Every appeal will add anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to the timeline. By the time this gets a final ruling Skynet may have killed us all.
A Canadian singer/songwriter could surely do something with an article talking shit about so-called AI having a so-called AI bullet point summary at the top. Don't you think?
But how high does the court hierarchy go?
City court, county court, state (Bundesland) court, national (supreme?) court? ECHR seems like it's off the table.
AFAIK in every place parties to a suit can escalate appeals through all levels. Google (ab)using this power isn't all that nice for plaintiffs, but it is a cornerstone of an impartial justice system.
So this was the regional court (Landgericht). The next one is the superior regional court (Oberlandesgericht) where Google will appeal now. Since I don't see any issues of the Bavarian constitution relevant to this case, the next one up is probably the federal court of justice (Bundesgerichtshof). And there is a small chance that either Google or the courts along the way decide to throw this to the EU court of justice.
Most decisions like this get suspended upon appeal, completely or partially, until people give up or there are no more courts to pester. But every appeal will be taken seriously and goes into review at the court whether there is merit to it. That takes time. And Google has the money for a frivolous tour through the courts. And then there is the danger of court ping-pong where the superior court sends this back with notes to the regional. Whose ruling may be appealed again, etc.