The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which includes Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music, has filed historic lawsuits against AI music generation companies Suno and Udio. These lawsuits, filed in federal courts in Boston and New York, emphasize the music industry's fight against the unauthorized use of copyrighted materials by AI technologies. The labels are demanding $150,000 per infringed work.
Key Allegations
In a press release, the RIAA accuses Suno and Udio of using copyrighted sound recordings to train their AI models without proper licenses. This legal action questions whether such use constitutes fair use or direct copyright infringement. Both companies offer users the ability to create complete songs, including music, lyrics, and vocals through their platforms.
Industry Reactions and Implications
Universal Music Group (UMG), Warner Music Group (WMG), and Sony Music are leading these lawsuits, arguing that training AI with copyrighted works without permission deprives artists and rights holders of compensation and recognition. This follows UMG's previous lawsuit against AI firm Anthropic over similar issues.
"We stand united with the music community to defend creators’ rights against callous entities like Suno and Udio that aim to steal, misappropriate, and profit from the life’s work of talented performers and writers. We envision a future where the human spirit drives innovation, rather than being exploited by it," said Dr. Richard James Burgess MBE, President and CEO of the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM).
Despite the controversy, both Suno and Udio have achieved significant milestones. Udio created a successful AI-generated song that was sampled by mainstream artists, while Suno secured $125 million in investor funding.