Recently, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) coordinated with a number of well-known record companies to file lawsuits against two AI music generation startups, Uncharted Labs (which develops Udio) and Suno. The core of the lawsuit is that the two companies used copyrighted music to train their AI models without authorization, thereby generating copyright-infringing audio works. This move has attracted widespread attention in the industry to the copyright issue of AI music generation technology, and also highlighted the urgency and complexity of copyright protection amid the wave of AI development.
Several well-known record labels have jointly sued two AI startups, accusing them of using copyrighted music to train their music generation models without permission, thereby producing audio that infringes the copyright of commercial works. The lawsuit was coordinated by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and the defendants involved are Uncharted Labs, which developed Udio, and Massachusetts-based Suno.
Both companies charge users to generate music, but record labels have accused them of using copyrighted music to train their AI models.
The record labels say they have evidence that the two companies used copyrighted music to train their artificial intelligence because the neural networks "overfitted," meaning the models generated content that was very similar to the specific training material, revealing their training method and demonstrated its ability to reconstruct copyrighted works on demand without permission.
The record companies are demanding that the two companies admit copyright infringement and shut down their AI services, pay legal fees and pay damages of $150,000 for each infringed work.
Suno responded that its model was not designed for imitation and believed legal action could be avoided. "Our technology is transformative; it's designed to produce entirely new output, not memorize and repeat what's already there. That's why we don't allow users to prompt for specific artists," said CEO Mitch Schulman.
Highlights:
⭐ Record companies jointly sued two AI music generation companies, Suno and Udio, accusing them of using copyrighted music for training and infringing on the copyright of commercial works.
⭐ The record company requires the defendant to admit infringement, shut down its AI service, and pay $150,000 in damages for each infringed work.
⭐ An AI music generation company says its technology is transformative and not meant to be imitated, but record labels have argued it used copyrighted music, triggering a legal dispute.
The outcome of this lawsuit will have a profound impact on the AI music generation industry and provide an important reference for data use and copyright issues in other AI fields. In the future, the balance between AI technology and copyright protection will become an ongoing challenge.