Record companies are trying to ban the use of their music as material for artificial intelligence applications

World the biggest record companies have started a battle against artificial intelligence companies that make music. The RIAA, the umbrella organization of the American recording industry, filed a lawsuit last week, according to which the Suno and Udio applications, which use artificial intelligence, violate copyright by using published music without permission, tell several MEDIA.

Behind the RIAA’s suit are the world’s largest record companies Sony, Universal and Warner, as well as several other record companies.

Suno and Udio are applications that anyone can use artificial intelligence to compose a piece of music. You can give different instructions to the artificial intelligence about the style, mood and lyrics of the desired song.

According to the record companies, the operation of artificial intelligence applications is only possible because artificial intelligence has been taught with already published music, and therefore Suno and Udio’s business is based on the unauthorized use of copyrighted works.

Suno, introduced at the end of last year, is part of Microsoft’s Copilot artificial intelligence application. Behind Udio is the investment company Andreessen Horowitz and individual artists such as will.i.am and Common.

Artificial intelligence companies have defended themselves by saying that their apps create new songs that are not copies of already released songs. Suno and Udio have also invoked US copyright law fair use – to the concept according to which parts of a copyright-protected work can be quoted, for example, in commentary, criticism, news and scientific reporting.

If Udio’s application is asked to compose a song in the style of an existing well-known artist, the application informs that it cannot imitate the artist without permission.

According to the record companies, despite this, users have managed to make songs with artificial intelligence, which have been partly identical copies of old songs made by real artists.

In April, several world-famous artists published an open letter, in which they called on AI users to stop “stealing the voice and character of artists”. The signatories of the open letter included, among others Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, J Balvin, Metro Boomin mixed Frank Sinatran and Bob Marleyn heirlooms.