Major music labels, including Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Records, Capitol Records, and others, have filed lawsuits against AI music generation services Suno and Udio. The labels allege that these startups have violated copyrights by using the works of top artists to train their generative AI systems without authorization.
The lawsuits, filed in federal courts in Boston and New York on Monday, seek damages that could amount to $150,000 per song or a share of the companies’ profits. According to Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) CEO Mitch Glazier, these unlicensed services undermine the potential for genuinely innovative AI by exploiting artists’ works for profit without consent or compensation.
Examples cited in the legal filings include prompts from Suno’s service that allegedly produced songs resembling copyrighted works by artists such as Chuck Berry, James Brown, Michael Bublé, ABBA, and others.
As of now, Suno and Udio have not responded to requests for comment on the lawsuits. The unauthorized use of artists’ creations for training generative AI models has emerged as a contentious issue in the technology’s rapid advancement toward greater capability and profitability.
Two lawsuits have been filed against Suno and Udio, focusing on their generative AI services that enable the creation of music from simple prompts. According to the complaints, Suno and Udio have been non-transparent about their AI training methods, treating them as closely guarded secrets.
In response, music publishers are working with “responsible developers” to develop AI tools that uphold artists’ rights, as stated by the RIAA, which initiated the legal actions.
Willie “Prophet” Stiggers, CEO of the Black Music Action Coalition, emphasized in a statement that authentic music originates from real-life experiences and individuals, underscoring the importance of artists and songwriters retaining control over their work, narratives, and messages.
In April, a coalition of artists and songwriters, including Billie Eilish, Smokey Robinson, and the estate of Frank Sinatra, penned an open letter calling for safeguards against what they described as an “assault on human creativity” posed by AI. They stressed the need to prevent AI from exploiting professional artists’ voices and likenesses, violating creators’ rights, and disrupting the music industry ecosystem, as articulated by the non-profit Artist Rights Alliance.
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