World’s largest record labels sue AI song generators for copyright infringement

The world’s biggest record labels are suing artificial intelligence-based song generators Suno and Udio for copyright infringement, claiming that the AI ​​music startups exploit artists’ recorded works.

Companies such as Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Records are accusing Suno and Udio of copyright infringement “on an almost unimaginable scale” in a lawsuit announced on Monday by the Recording Industry Association of America.

One case was filed in federal court in Boston against Suno AI, the other in New York against Uncharted Labs, the developer of Udio AI.

The lawsuit alleges that Suno and Udio’s software steals music to “spit out” similar works and seeks $150,000 in damages for each work found to be infringed.

Suno launched its first product last year and claims that more than 10 million people have used its music-making tool. The company also partners with Microsoft and charges users a monthly fee.

Udio, known as Uncharted Labs, released his app in April and rose to near-instant fame as US producer Metro Boomin’s tool for creating “BBL Drizzy” – a parody track about the feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake.

In their complaints, the record labels claim that the AI ​​companies are simply making money by copying the songs. However, in the past they have argued that their use of the material is legitimate under the fair use doctrine, which allows copyrighted works to be used without a license under certain conditions, such as for satire and news.

“The use here is anything but revolutionary, as the AI ​​model has no functional purpose in ingesting the copyrighted recordings other than to spit out new, competing music files,” the complaints state.

They also said that there is nothing about artificial intelligence that exempts companies from “playing by the rules” and warned that “large-scale theft” of the recordings threatens “the entire music ecosystem.”

Suno AI CEO Mikey Shulman said The guard The technology is “designed to produce entirely new results, not to memorize and replay existing content” and does not allow users to reference specific artists.

He added that he had tried to explain this to the labels, “but instead of having a serious discussion, they went back to their old lawyer-dictated maneuver.”

The lawsuit comes just months after more than 200 well-known musicians signed an open letter calling for protection from the predatory use of artificial intelligence.