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Music Labels File Lawsuits Against AI Companies Suno and Udio for Copyright Infringement
Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Warner Records have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against AI startups Suno and Udio. Suno and Udio have been accused of duplicating songs without authorization in order to train their AI algorithms that generate music. The lawsuits seek statutory damages of up to $150,000 for each song copied.
Music labels have accused AI companies of committing widespread copyright infringement by using their recordings to train music-generating AI systems. The cases, filed in New York and Massachusetts, allege that Suno and Udio duplicated music without authorization in order to make music that directly competes with and diminishes the work of human musicians.
According to the complaints, Suno and Udio users have been able to recreate elements of popular songs, including hits like "My Girl" by The Temptations, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey, and "I Got You (I Feel Good)" by James Brown. Suno and Udio's AI systems are said to be capable of producing vocals identical to those of well-known performers such as Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, and ABBA.
Suno CEO Mikey Shulman defended the company's technology, claiming that it is intended to create wholly new outputs rather than simply replicating old content. However, the music labels claim that Suno and Udio illegally duplicated a large number of songs. The claims seek statutory damages of up to $150,000 for each song copied, with Suno accused of duplicating 662 songs and Udio accused of copying 1,670.
The lawsuit against Suno and Udio is the first to target music-generating artificial intelligence. Previously, similar cases were made against AI businesses for allegedly using copyrighted information to train text-based AI models. AI businesses frequently claim fair use of copyrighted content in their systems.
Suno, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Udio, headquartered in New York, have both received significant funding this year for their AI systems that compose music based on user text suggestions. The music labels claim that the corporations have been evasive about the materials used to train their technology, and that revealing this information will expose a stunning magnitude of willful copyright violation.
Mitch Glazier, CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America, raised worry over unlicensed services such as Suno and Udio, claiming that their activities limit the possibilities of truly creative AI and harm artists whose work is exploited without their knowledge or remuneration.
Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Warner Records sue AI companies Suno and Udio for copyright infringement.
Suno and Udio accused of copying music without permission to train their music-generating AI systems.
Lawsuits seek statutory damages of up to $150,000 per song copied.
Source: REUTERS