Globally recognised record labels file lawsuits claiming AI copyright

The world’s biggest record companies are suing two artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups for allegedly infringing copyright, in what might be a landmark case.

Businesses including Warner Records, Sony Music, and Universal Music Group assert that Suno and Udio have committed “nearly unfathomable” copyright violations.

They claim that their software “spits out” identical works using stolen music, and they are demanding $150,000 (£118,200) for each song.

In a blog post on Tuesday, Udio stated that it was “completely uninterested in reproducing content”.

The cases were made public on Monday by the Recording Industry Association of America. These are a few of the complaints that authors, news organisations, and other parties have made challenging the usage rights of their works by AI businesses.

Since launching its first product last year, the Massachusetts-based business Suno claims that over 10 million users have created music on its platform.

The business, which partners with Microsoft and charges a monthly fee for its service, recently disclosed that it has raised $125 million from investors.

Known venture capitalists like Andreessen Horowitz sponsor the New York-based firm Uncharted Labs.

When the app was released to the general public in April, it became well-known for being the inspiration of the parody song “BBL Drizzy,” which drew reference to the conflict between Drake and Kendrick Lamar.

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AI businesses have previously asserted that the fair use approach, which authorises the unrestricted use of copyrighted works for news and satire among other purposes, permits their use of the content.

Proponents have compared how people learn by reading, hearing, and watching earlier works to how AI systems for machine learning learn.
Udio characterised their technique as “explicitly designed to create music reflecting new musical ideas”.

 

But according to the record labels’ complaints filed in federal courts in Massachusetts and New York, the AI companies are only making money off of the music’ replication.

The accusations state that Suno and Udio write songs like Prancing Queen that are so identical to authentic ABBA recordings that even ardent fans would have difficulty differentiating between them.

Among the tracks in the Udio case are “My Girl” by The Temptations and “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey.

 

They warned that the recordings’ “wholesale theft” put “the entire music ecosystem” in jeopardy and that the companies’ use of AI did not excuse them from “playing by the rules.”

Just a few months had passed since almost 200 artists, including Nicki Minaj and Billie Eilish, had signed a petition calling for a halt to the “predatory” use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the music industry. At that point, the complaints were filed.