Suno Defends AI Training on Copyrighted Music as ‘Fair Use’
AI music startup Suno is at the center of a legal battle following a lawsuit by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which accuses the company of using copyrighted music to train its AI model.
In a recent court filing, Suno admitted to using copyrighted songs but argued that this practice falls under the fair-use doctrine.
The lawsuit, filed on June 24, targets both Suno and another music generation startup, Udio. The RIAA claims that these companies used copyrighted music without permission to train their AI models. Suno’s investors had previously suggested that the startup lacked authorization from music labels, but the latest court filing explicitly confirms this for the first time.
Suno’s Stance on Fair Use
Suno’s court 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.”
In a blog post published the same day, Suno CEO and co-founder Mikey Shulman defended the company’s actions. He explained, “We train our models on medium- and high-quality music we can find on the open internet… Much of the open internet indeed contains copyrighted materials, and some of it is owned by major record labels.”
Shulman likened the AI training process to a child learning to write rock songs after listening to the genre, arguing that “Learning is not infringing. It never has been, and it is not now.”
RIAA’s Response
The RIAA responded strongly, stating, “It’s a major concession of facts they spent months trying to hide and acknowledged only when forced by a lawsuit. Their industrial scale infringement does not qualify as ‘fair use’. There’s nothing fair about stealing an artist’s life’s work, extracting its core value, and repackaging it to compete directly with the originals.
Their vision of the ‘future of music’ is apparently one in which fans will no longer enjoy music by their favorite artists because those artists can no longer earn a living.”
Implications for the Future
The issue of fair use in the context of AI model training is complex, and this case could set a significant precedent. As the legal proceedings continue, the outcome may shape the future landscape of AI in the music industry and beyond.
