Lucía Bautista
This past June, in the District Court of Massachusetts and the Southern District of New York, major music labels came together to issue complaints against Suno[1] and Uncharted Labs[2] for copyright infringement related to voice cloning in their generative music models. Both AI services use machine learning and rely on large databases, including copyrighted works, to create digital music in response to user prompts. TikTok users can attest that songs produced by generative AI models often go viral and affect artists like Bad Bunny[3] and Beyoncé.[4] In Uncharted Labs’ complaint, the music labels express concerns about the industry-wide threats that AI soundalikes pose and how they could "directly compete with, cheapen, and ultimately drown out the genuine sound recordings."[5]
Will the outcomes of these two cases remix the fair use doctrine as we know it? Suno's response to the music labels' complaint claims it is fair use to "make a copy of a protected work as part of a back-end technological process, invisible to the public, in the service of creating an ultimately non-infringing new product."[6] For Suno and Uncharted Labs to successfully invoke a fair use defense, the district court must weigh the four fair use factors—purpose and character of the use, nature of the copyrighted work, amount and substantiality of the portions used, and effect on the potential market—in their favor.
Fair use promotes freedom of expression by providing an exception to the otherwise unauthorized use of copyrighted works. Although these cases could impact all four factors, the third consideration, which privileges small quantities or a reasonable amount for a transformative purpose, could undergo the most significant change. It is unclear how courts should determine the appropriateness of the amount and substantiality of the portions used. Courts have historically compared the allegedly infringing work(s) to the original, copyrighted work(s) to decide whether the degree of similarity constitutes infringement.
Addressing the amount and substantiality of AI voice soundalikes poses additional hurdles. Quantifying the amount and qualifying the substantiality are difficult because Suno and Uncharted Labs' AI models replicate voices using data processing rather than directly sampling audio from copyrighted works. Because of the technical nature of data collection and AI production, the district court could interpret Suno's and Uncharted Labs' models as analyzing and rearranging facts rather than copying creative expression. Another important obstacle to note is that voices themselves are not eligible for copyright protection.[7] A decision privileging Suno and Uncharted Labs would likely disrupt the music industry broadly, from music labels and recording studios to singers and their fans. By extension, we could witness even further long-term effects on consumer behavior, celebrity brand dilution, existing business models, and more.
The case against Suno has remained stagnant since early August. Meanwhile, the parties in the Uncharted Labs matter have their case management conference scheduled for October 17, 2024. A similar case involving Concord Music Group and other music labels against Anthropic is pending in in the Northern District of California, where a motion to dismiss hearing is scheduled for October 10, 2024.[8] It could very well be that by the time these cases are decided, other cases concerning generative AI will also influence the fair use doctrine.
[1] Complaint at 1, UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Suno, Inc., No. 1:24-cv-11611 (D. Mass. June 24, 2024).
[2] Complaint at 1, UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Uncharted Labs, Inc., No. 1:24-cv-04777 (S.D.N.Y. June 24, 2024).
[3] Isabela Raygoza, Bad Bunny Slams ‘Subpar’ AI Soundalike That’s Going Viral on TikTok, Billboard (Nov. 8, 2023), https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/bad-bunny-slams-ai-
soundalike-viral-tiktok-1235466825/ [https://perma.cc/Y9LA-TTYM] [https://web.archive.org/web/20241004035320/https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/bad-bunny-slams-ai-soundalike-viral-tiktok-1235466825/].
[4] Ivana Saric, Beyoncé’s new songs went viral. So did their AI covers., Axios (Feb. 16, 2024), https://www.axios.com/2024/02/16/beyonce-country-texas-hold-em-ai-cover [https://perma.cc/7M6H-QKXX] [https://web.archive.org/web/20240926021157/https://www.axios.com/2024/02/16/beyonce-country-texas-hold-em-ai-cover?__cf_chl_rt_tk=oHYi1zcdYkVx9l_d7Ubr45TbQb28_0BwWH_0GIJhTJ4-1727316717-0.0.1.1-6868].
[5] Complaint at 2, UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Uncharted Labs, Inc., No. 1:24-cv-04777 (S.D.N.Y. June 24, 2024).
[6] Answer to Complaint at 5, UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Suno, Inc., No. 1:24-cv-11611 (D. Mass. Aug. 1, 2024).
[7] Midler v. Ford Motor Co., 849 F.2d 460 (9th Cir. 1988).
[8] Daniel Tencer, Universal, Concord and Abkco Slam Anthropic’s Motion To Dismiss, Say AI Company Is Trying To ‘Stall’ Copyright Case, Music Business Worldwide (Sep. 9, 2024), https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/universal-concord-and-abkco-slam-anthropics-motion-to-dismiss-say-ai-company-is-trying-to-stall-copyright-case/ [https://perma.cc/8XEA-ZSRB] [https://web.archive.org/web/20241004040113/https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/universal-concord-and-abkco-slam-anthropics-motion-to-dismiss-say-ai-company-is-trying-to-stall-copyright-case/].