The lawsuits, filed by Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment, accuse Suno and Udio of infringing copyrighted music on a large scale to train their models. The AI firms argue that their machines are like a "human musician" who learns from earlier songs to create new works. The companies also suggest that the lawsuit is an attempt to misuse IP rights to shield incumbents from competition.
Key takeaways:
- AI music firms Suno and Udio have responded to lawsuits from major record labels, arguing that they were free to use copyrighted songs to train their models and claiming the music industry is abusing intellectual property to crush competition.
- The companies argue that their use of existing materials to create new works is lawful under copyright’s fair use doctrine.
- The major labels, including Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, sued both companies in June, accusing them of infringing copyrighted music on an “unimaginable scale” to train their models.
- In response, the Recording Industry Association of America issued a statement saying that the companies' infringement does not qualify as 'fair use' and that there's nothing fair about stealing an artist’s life’s work to compete directly with the originals.