Warner Music Group settled its copyright infringement case with AI-powered song creation platform Suno, allowing the startup to release licensed AI models next year, the companies said Tuesday.
Suno competitor Udio has also recently resolved its copyright dispute with Warner Music and Universal Music Group, as the music companies look to open up new revenue streams for artists and songwriters while protecting their work.
Major record labels are trying to safeguard their vast catalogs in a rapidly changing music industry, where the rise of AI-generated music has raised ethical concerns as users are unable to distinguish between AI-generated content and human-composed songs.
Under the agreement, Suno will introduce new licensed AI models that will replace its current versions in 2026.
You may be interested in: The AI music generator, Suno, is valued at $2.45 billion: why it is so controversial
Suno, which last week raised $250 million at a valuation of $2.45 billion, also said it will implement download restrictions, making songs created in the free version only playable and shareable, while paying users will have monthly download limits with options to purchase more.
“We are launching new, more robust features for creation, opportunities to collaborate and interact with some of the most talented musicians in the world,” Suno CEO Mikey Shulman said in a statement.
Record labels sued Udio and Suno last year, alleging that the AI companies copied hundreds of songs from some of the world’s most popular musicians to teach their systems to create music that would “directly compete with, cheapen and ultimately outshine” human artists.
Udio and Suno asserted that using copyrighted sound recordings to train their systems qualifies as fair use under U.S. copyright law, and called the lawsuits attempts to stifle independent competition.
With information from Reuters
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and don’t miss our content
