The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) recently filed a lawsuit against music generation startups Udio and Suno. In a court filing on Thursday, Suno admitted to training its AI model using copyrighted songs but claimed it was legal under fair-use doctrine. The RIAA alleged that both companies used copyrighted music to train their models, with Suno’s investors hinting at this previously but now directly stated in the legal filing.
Suno acknowledged in the filing that it trained its model on recordings likely owned by the RIAA. CEO Mikey Shulman defended the company’s practices in a blog post, comparing the use of copyrighted internet material to a kid writing songs after listening to a genre, emphasizing that learning is not infringing.
In response, the RIAA criticized Suno’s actions as industrial-scale infringement, not qualifying as fair use. They expressed concern about artists not being able to earn a living due to such practices. The case’s resolution will likely set a precedent for AI model training and its implications on copyright law.
