AI lawsuits filed by music labels create new US copyright puzzle

HISTORY: :: Major record labels enter the market with high stakes

the fight for copyright in connection with AI-generated content

:: Blake Brittain, Legal Reporter, Reuters

“There are two startups called Suno and Udio that allow users to create music and lyrics by entering simple text props. This has resulted in lawsuits from major record labels Sony Music, UMG, Warner Music. They claim that these companies are using their recordings to train systems without permission, without a license, without payment. They claim that you can hear similar sounds from artists like ABBA and Bruce Springsteen, and the companies are playing specific parts of specific songs. These lawsuits are similar to the cases that have already been filed against OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta for their popular chat bots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. These lawsuits were filed by authors, news agencies, other songwriters who made similar allegations that their work was used without permission. // These cases are already interesting. There are going to be a lot of complicated issues related to them. However, the added factor of music makes things a bit more complicated.”

:: One of the artists told Reuters that she is considering

AI-generated song as “theft”

BRITTAIN: “I talked to a musician named Tift Merritt, a very talented American musician from North Carolina. She’s been a musician’s advocate for a long time. And she’s worried that these systems are basically stealing her music and using it to replace her. I experimented with these systems by asking them to play an American song in Tift Merritt’s style. The results were very interesting. They didn’t use any of her specific lyrics, any of her specific melodies, but what we got was pretty close to the feel of her music, in general. It was pretty fascinating, and I can see why she might be worried.”

:: Suno and Udio defended the technology, saying it is

“transformational” and reflecting “new musical ideas”

Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Music last month sued Udio and another music AI company called Suno, sending the music industry into a furious copyright battle over AI-generated content that is only just beginning to make its way through the courts.

Both Suno and Udio have defended their technology after the lawsuits in public statements, which they cited in response to requests for comment for this story. Suno CEO Mikey Shulman said in a statement that their technology is “groundbreaking.”

Udio said its system is “explicitly designed to create music that reflects new musical ideas.”