A group of record labels are suing two of the top companies in generative AI music making for allegedly violating their copyright “en masse.”
The Record Industry Association of America, the trade group on behalf of labels such as Sony Music Entertainment, UMG Recordings and Warner Records has filed two copyright infringement cases against Suno and Udio for training their AI models with labels’ unlicensed sound recordings.
Udio was the platform used to create “BBL Drizzy”, the diss track that went viral last during the infamous Kendrick Lamar and Drake feud. Udio was founded by former Google DeepMind researchers last year to make it “easy for anyone to create emotionally resonant music in an instant,” as stated by the company.
The case with Suno was filed in the Boston federal court while the case against Udio was filed in New York. The labels mentioned that artists across different genres and eras had their work used without consent.
RIAA is seeking damages of up to $150,000 (8.8 million pesos) per work which includes other fees.
Ken Dorshow, the RIAA chief legal officer stated in a press release, “These are straightforward cases of copyright infringement involving unlicensed copying of sound recordings on a massive scale. Suno and Udio are attempting to hide the full scope of their infringement rather than putting their services on a sound and lawful footing.”
The complainant stated that when they accused Suno of using copyrighted works, the company diverted, saying that the training data was “confidential business information”. In the said suit, the claims made by Udio are similar to Suno.
Back in April, Artist Rights Alliance wrote an open letter to demand that AI companies “cease the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists.”
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