Major Labels Sue AI Firms Suno and Udio for Copyright Infringement

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), alongside Universal, Warner, and Sony, has filed lawsuits against AI music companies Suno and Udio, alleging widespread copyright infringement. The lawsuits claim that Suno and Udio have unlawfully copied copyrighted sound recordings to train their AI models, producing music that competes with original recordings.

Allegations and Legal Action

The lawsuits, filed by Sony Music, Warner Music Group, and Universal Music Group, accuse Suno and Udio of copying vast amounts of copyrighted material to develop their AI models. These models can generate music, lyrics, and vocals with high precision. The major labels seek an injunction to stop the companies from using copyrighted songs for training and demand damages for past infringements.

Advanced AI Music Capabilities

Suno and Udio have become prominent players in AI-generated music, capable of creating complete tracks at the click of a button. Udio's platform produced the AI-generated hit "BBL Drizzy," popularized by a Metro Boomin remix. Suno has also gained significant investment, raising $125 million since its launch in December 2023.

Copyright Infringement Concerns

The lawsuits cite evidence that Suno and Udio's outputs closely resemble copyrighted music from artists like Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, and Mariah Carey. The labels argue that the AI companies' practices violate copyright law and threaten the integrity of the music industry.

Investor's Admission

In a recent Rolling Stone profile of Suno, investor Antonio Rodriguez admitted that the start-up does not have licenses for the music it has trained on but added that it was not a concern to him. Knowing that labels and publishers could sue was just “the risk we had to underwrite when we invested in the company, because we’re the fat wallet that will get sued right behind these guys… Honestly, if we had deals with labels when this company got started, I probably wouldn’t have invested in it. I think that they needed to make this product without the constraints.”

Fair Use Defense

AI companies often argue that their training practices fall under the fair use doctrine, which allows for certain unlicensed uses of copyrighted works. However, the labels dispute this defense, asserting that the AI-generated music lacks human creativity and expression, which fair use is meant to protect.

RIAA's Statement

RIAA CEO Mitch Glazier emphasized the importance of collaboration with responsible AI developers to protect artists' rights. He condemned unlicensed services like Suno and Udio for exploiting artists' work without consent or compensation. RIAA Chief Legal Officer Ken Doroshow described the lawsuits as necessary to uphold ethical and lawful AI development.

Previous Legal Actions

These lawsuits follow a similar case filed in October against Anthropic, another AI company, by UMG, Concord, and ABKCO, concerning the unlicensed use of lyrics to train AI models. The outcome of these cases could set important precedents for the use of copyrighted material in AI development.