The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), on behalf of the major music labels, including Sony, Universal, and Warner Brothers, has sued the AI music generating software companies Udio and Suno, alleging copyright infringement. The music industry has now joined the literary and fine art industries in asserting legal claims against generative AI companies that use artist’s intellectual property to train their programs while not compensating the copyright owner(s).
The AI music software functions in a way very similar to other generative AI software. A user can submit a text prompt which will then output an AI-generated song based on that text input. For example, a user can type a topic for the subject matter of the lyrics, and enter prompts for the instrumental potion (e.g. classic rock, melodic, heavy guitar) and the software will generate a complete song with music and lyrics, about the subject matter the user requested, in the genre and style that the user requested.
The issue that the music industry (and other creative industries) has is that the AI software can only generate the song because it has been trained using copyrighted works. These generative AI programs work by “learning” from massive amounts of data input, which in this case includes a large number of copyrighted songs. It can then generate its own output (i.e. a new, original song) based on all of the “learning” it has done. The RIAA lawsuit specifically states that “building and operating a service like Udio’s requires at the outset copying and ingesting massive amounts of data to ‘train’ a software ‘model’ to generate outputs” and that the process involves “copying decades worth of the world’s most popular sound recordings”.
Hinting at a possible legal defense, Suno’s CEO responded with a statement that the “technology is transformative; it is designed to generate completely new outputs, not to memorize and regurgitate pre-existing content”. Transformative is a term of art in copyright law; transformative uses are defined by the U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use index as uses that: “add something new, with a further purpose or different character, and do not substitute for the original use of the work”. “Transformation” is very relevant in a fair use analysis, which if
successful, is a complete defense to infringement.
The RIAA is seeking injunctions to prevent these software companies from further infringement as well as damages from infringement(s) that has already occurred. As we have noted on this blog before, this case (and the others in similar creative industries) will have a significant impact on the creative industries and the development of artificial intelligence. A finding for the record labels could, in a worst-case scenario, force these generative AI programs to shut down, and in a better case scenario, require a reworking or shift in the business model of these programs, which may include a payment of licensing fees to the copyright holders. Alternatively, if the courts find for Udio and Suno, it could lead to a rise in AI music to the point where a human musician’s work is substituted and ultimately, significantly devalued.
If you need assistance in the area of AI, music and/or copyright infringement, please contact our attorneys here.
