by By: Claire Robbins
The entertainment industry is entering a new era both legally and creatively. As Artificial Intelligence begin to change the production of music, movies, and digital content, copyright rules enter a blurry zone. Who owns the work produced by artificial intelligence?
The Problem
AI-generated songs imitating well-known voices and lawsuits by screenwriters alleging their copyrighted scripts were used to train AI models are only two examples of recent events that have raised awareness of this problem. This is beyond disappointing for talented creatives who have worked their whole lives to obtain their careers all while AI is taking over.
Major record labels including Universal, Warner, and Sony Music Groups (All represented by by Recording Industry Association of America RIAA) are suing AI music companies Suno and Udio for using allegedly copyrighted songs and stealing from their models. By using these major music groups artists as a model for this AI companies they are able to take genuine, human-created sounds and make them artificial. The RIAA
“is seeking damages of as much as $150,000 “per work infringed.” That could amount to potentially billions of dollars.” ~ Time Magazine
By using businesses like Suno AI and Udio for illegally training AI models using copyrighted recordings, teh record labels (via the RIAA) have taken a stance against generative-AI startups. According to the allegations, these services prodcued music that was
“remarkably similar” ~ Los Angeles Times
to well-known songs and even imitated the voices of well-known performers in addition to using large datasets of protected works without a permission. The labels desrcibe illegal AI-music generation as “irresponsible harm” to both artists and the industry, arguing that it endangers both the commercial worth of artists output and larger cultural ecosystems.
The Result
Not only is AI affecting current creatives but it is also beginning to sway peoples perspectives on entering the industry. Knowing that jobs are slowly being taken over by AI is fearful and intimidating. For music producers and artists, a common way to get noticed online is by sharing your music via social media platforms. However, I can see people being more hesitant to share their music in case they are targetted as a model for AI usage. This growing uncertainty could ultimately discourage these creators from pursuing their passions, threatening the music and entertainment industry itself.
Link with me: www.linkedin.com/in/claire-robbins-uostudent
References: Time Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Tiktok: @Topmusicattorney
