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Major Record Labels Sue AI Startups Suno and Udio for Copyright Infringement, Seek $150,000 Per Violation

Jun 24, 2024, 03:32 PM

On June 24, 2024, major record labels Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Warner Records filed federal lawsuits against AI music startups Suno and Udio. The lawsuits, coordinated by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), accuse the companies of mass copyright infringement for using the labels' recordings to train their AI music generation systems without permission. The lawsuits highlight that Suno and Udio, based in Cambridge, allegedly used thousands of unlicensed songs from some of the world's biggest artists to develop their AI models. The case marks a significant legal challenge at the intersection of artificial intelligence and the music industry, with the RIAA seeking damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work. The AI-generated song 'BBL Drizzy' by Udio is cited as an example of the alleged infringement. The companies have responded by claiming the music they used is 'confidential business information.'