The world’s biggest record labels, including Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Records, have sued Suno and Udio, two artificial intelligence startups, for alleged copyright infringement “on an almost unimaginable scale.” The companies of … discs claim that the software “steals music to spit out similar works” and ask for compensation of 150,000 dollars (140,000 euros) per infringed work, which could lead to a huge total amount.
The lawsuits, announced Monday by the Recording Industry Association of America, are part of a wave of lawsuits from authors, news organizations and other groups challenging the rights of artificial intelligence companies to use their work.
Massachusetts-based Suno launched its first product last year and says more than 10 million people have used its tool to make music. The company, associated with Microsoft, charges a monthly fee for its service. For its part, Udio, known as Uncharted Labs, is based in New York and is backed by high-profile venture capital investors such as Andreessen Horowitz.
In the lawsuits, filed in federal courts in Massachusetts and New York, the record labels claim that AI companies simply make money by copying original songs. And they mention specific cases such as ‘Prancing Queen’ that imitated ABBA or ‘BBL Drizzy’, a parody song related to the dispute between artists Kendrick Lamar and Drake. They also cite ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ by Mariah Carey, ‘I Get Around’ by the Beach Boys, ‘American Idiot’ by Green Day, ‘My Girl’ by The Temptations or several classics by Michael Jackson or Bruce Springsteen. like famous hits that are being greatly harmed by these mechanisms.
“The reason is blatantly commercial and threatens to displace the authentic human art that constitutes the core of copyright protection,” the record labels state in the lawsuits, which also point out that nothing exempts the companies accused from “complying with the regulations.” “and warn that the “massive theft” of recordings “threatens the entire musical ecosystem.”
RIAA President and CEO Mitch Glazier has stated that the music industry has collaborated with responsible AI developers, but that “unlicensed services like Suno and Udio, which claim it is ‘fair’ to copy everyone’s work,” said RIAA President and CEO Mitch Glazier. “the life of an artist and exploiting it for personal gain without consent or remuneration, set back the promise of truly innovative artificial intelligence for us all.”
Before all this, Suno AI CEO Mikey Shulman explained that the technology is “designed to generate completely new products, not to memorize and regurgitate pre-existing content, and it does not allow users to reference specific artists.” Shulman now claims that his company tried to explain this to the record companies, “but instead of engaging in a good faith debate, they’ve gone back to their old lawyer’s playbook.”
The demands come just months after some 200 artists, including Stevie Wonder, Robert Smith, Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, REM, Peter Frampton, Jon Batiste, Katy Perry, Sheryl Crow and Smokey Robinson, signed a letter calling for an end to the “predatory” use of artificial intelligence in the music industry. The letter was also signed by the descendants of deceased music stars such as Bob Marley and Frank Sinatra.
“Make no mistake: we believe that, when used responsibly, AI has enormous potential to advance human creativity and in a way that enables the development and growth of exciting new experiences for music fans across the world.” everywhere,” the statement began, which then stated: “Unfortunately, some platforms and developers are using AI to sabotage creativity and undermine artists, songwriters, musicians and rights holders. When used irresponsibly, AI poses enormous threats to our ability to protect our privacy, our identities, our music, and our livelihoods. Left unchecked, AI will launch a race to the bottom that will degrade the value of our work and prevent us from being fairly compensated for it. This assault on human creativity must stop. “We must guard against the predatory use of AI to steal the voice and image of professional artists, violate creators’ rights, and destroy the music ecosystem.”
