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AI Music Lawsuit

Introduction

The biggest players in the music recording industry have filed lawsuits against two rapidly growing AI music start-ups, Suno and Uncharted Labs (developer of Udio), alleging unauthorized use of copyrighted songs to train their tools.

What Are the Allegations?

Record companies, including Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Records, claim that Suno and Udio used songs without proper rights to train their AI algorithms. Mitch Glazier, CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America, stated, “Unlicensed services like Suno and Udio that claim it’s ‘fair’ to copy an artist’s life’s work and exploit it for their own profit without consent or pay set back the promise of genuinely innovative AI for us all.”

Response from AI Start-Ups

Mikey Shulman, CEO of Suno, defended their technology, stating, “Our technology is transformative; it is designed to generate completely new outputs, not to memorize and regurgitate pre-existing content.” However, a spokesperson for Udio did not return a request for comment.

Industry Pushback

As interest in AI has surged, various creators have begun pushing back against the use of their work to train AI technologies. Lawsuits have been filed against companies like OpenAI by authors, comedians, and newspapers, arguing that their work is being stolen to train tools that could replace them.

Fair Use Debate

AI leaders argue that using books, news articles, and art to train AI falls under “fair use,” a concept in copyright law that allows the re-use of copyrighted content if it is substantially changed. However, many creators disagree with this interpretation.

Functionality of AI Tools

Suno and Udio allow users to generate full songs by typing in a description, including genre, lyrics, and instruments. Suno blocks requests to generate songs mimicking specific artists, but this policy is not always effective. The plaintiffs provided examples of AI-generated songs nearly identical to real songs, including one mimicking Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Balls of Fire.”

Legal and Legislative Actions

Some musicians are advocating for new laws to protect their likeness and music style. Tennessee recently updated a law to ban mimicking a musician’s voice without permission, and a bipartisan group of federal senators proposed a similar national law last year.

Conclusion

The lawsuits against Suno and Udio highlight the ongoing tension between the AI industry and content creators. As AI technology continues to evolve, the legal landscape will likely need to adapt to address these complex issues.

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