The world’s largest record label is suing two artificial intelligence (AI) startups over alleged copyright infringement in what could be a landmark case.
Companies including Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group said the scale of copyright infringement by Suno and Udio was “almost unimaginable.”
They claim the pair’s software stole music to “spit out” similar works and are seeking $150,000 (£118,200) per piece.
Suno did not respond to a request for comment. Udio said in an article Blog article On Tuesday, it said it was “completely uninterested in copying content.”
The lawsuits, announced Monday by the Recording Industry Association of America, are part of a series of lawsuits filed by writers, news organizations and other groups that are challenging the rights of artificial intelligence companies to use their works.
Massachusetts-based Suno released its first product last year and claims more than 10 million people have used its tools to make music.
The company, which has a partnership with Microsoft for a monthly service fee, recently announced it had raised $125 million from investors.
New York-based Udio, known as Uncharted Labs, is backed by high-profile venture investors such as Andreessen Horowitz.
The company released its app to the public in April and was criticized for being used in the creation of “BBL Drizzy,” a song tied to the feud between artists Kendrick Lamar and Drake ‘s parody track) and rose to fame almost immediately.
In the past, AI companies have argued that their use of the material is legal under the fair use doctrine, which allows copyrighted works such as satire and journalism to be used without permission under certain conditions.
Proponents compare the machine learning of AI tools to the way humans learn by reading, listening and watching previous work.
Udio says its system is “explicitly designed to create music that reflects new musical ideas.”
It added that it had “implemented and continues to refine state-of-the-art filters to ensure our models do not copy copyrighted works or artists’ voices”.
“We stand behind our technology and believe that generative artificial intelligence will become the backbone of modern society,” the company said.
But in lawsuits filed in federal courts in Massachusetts and New York, the record labels say the AI companies are simply making money by copying songs.
“The use here is far from transformative, as there is no functional purpose… [the] The AI model would ingest copyrighted recordings rather than spit out new, competing music files,” the complaint states.
The complaint alleges that Suno and Udio produced material such as “Prancing Queen” that even die-hard ABBA fans would have trouble distinguishing from the band’s actual recordings.
Songs cited in Udio’s lawsuit include “All I Want for Christmas is You and My Girl” by The Temptations’ Mariah Carey.
“[The] Its motivations are blatantly commercial and threaten to displace the genuine human artistry that is at the heart of copyright protection,” the label said in the lawsuit.
They said artificial intelligence was no excuse for companies to “play by the rules” and warned that the “wholesale theft” of recordings threatened “the entire music ecosystem”.
Just months after about 200 artists filed a lawsuit Including Billie Eilish and Nicki Minaj Signed a letter calling for an end to the “predatory” use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the music industry.
