Suno defends AI training with copyrighted music amid RIAA lawsuit

In a recent court filing, music generation startup Suno admitted to training its AI model using copyrighted songs, defending the practice as legal under the fair-use doctrine. 

This argument comes amid a lawsuit filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) against Suno and another startup, Udio, on June 24, alleging unauthorized use of copyrighted music for AI model training.

Suno’s defense and RIAA‘s refute

Suno’s CEO and co-founder, Mikey Shulman, elaborated on their stance in a blog post published the same day as the legal filing. Shulman argued that training AI models on open internet data, including copyrighted material, is akin to a “kid writing their own rock songs after listening to the genre.”

However, the RIAA refuted Suno’s claims, accusing the company of industrial-scale infringement. The RIAA argued that Suno’s large-scale use of copyrighted material without permission is not “fair use” and is instead a theft that harms artists’ ability to earn a living.

The lawsuit and admissions

The lawsuit from RIAA claims that Suno and Udio have used copyrighted music without permission to train their AI models, a practice Suno’s investors have openly hinted at but only directly acknowledged in the recent court filing.

The filing states, “It is no secret that the tens of millions of recordings that Suno’s model was trained on presumably included recordings whose rights are owned by the Plaintiffs in this case.”

The concept of fair use, which allows for limited use of copyrighted material without permission under certain conditions, is at the heart of this legal battle. The doctrine traditionally covers criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. However, its application to AI model training remains uncharted territory.

Suno’s ambitions and industry impact

Despite the legal challenges, Suno has ambitious plans for the future. On May 21, the company announced it had raised $125 million from investors, aiming to democratize beat-making.

The funds are intended for product development and team expansion, with Suno’s initial product allowing users to create songs based on simple text prompts. Users can input descriptions of their desired songs and choose whether to include vocals or keep them purely instrumental.

AI-generated music has been a contentious issue within the music industry, with significant players like Universal Music and Sony opposing developers’ use of their artists’ copyrighted content.

In the summer of 2023, tech giants Google and Meta launched their own AI-generated music platforms, further intensifying the debate.