Major American record labels have filed lawsuits against AI startups, alleging copyright infringement of music tracks. They claim that copyrighted music was used without permission during the training of AI models.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced on the 24th (local time) that it has filed damage claims against AI startups Suno and Udio on behalf of its member companies Sony Music, Universal Music, and Warner Music. The lawsuits were filed in the Massachusetts District Court and the Southern District of New York, respectively.
The association acknowledged that these companies infringed on copyrighted music, sought injunctions to prevent such cases in the future, and demanded compensation for damages caused by the copyright infringements that have already occurred. The amount of damages requested by the association is up to $150,000 per infringed work, and considering the vast amount of music used in AI model training, the total compensation claim is estimated to reach trillions of won.
Mitch Glazier, CEO of the RIAA, stated, "The music industry has embraced AI and is collaborating with responsible developers," adding, "Cases like Suno and Udio, which replicate artists’ lifetime works and use them without permission for their own benefit while claiming it is 'fair,' betray the promise of truly innovative AI for everyone."
Suno and Udio, partners of Microsoft (MS), are considered rapidly growing companies in the field of generative AI music production. Suno CEO Mikey Sulman responded in a statement on the same day, saying, "(AI models) are designed to generate completely new outputs rather than remembering and reproducing existing content," and denied referencing specific artists. He added that he tried to explain this situation to the music companies, but they only made lawyer-driven claims instead of engaging in discussions. Udio has not yet released any official position.
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