Major Music Artists Join Forces to Fight AI-Generated Content Theft. A star-studded lineup of artists, including Cyndi Lauper, Questlove, and Jason Isbell, has signed on to a new campaign aimed at preventing the unauthorized use of copyrighted music to train generative artificial intelligence models.
The "Stealing Isn't Innovation" campaign, led by the Human Artistry Campaign, brings together nearly 800 creators who are protesting the unlicensed use of their work. The coalition, which includes prominent entertainment industry groups like the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA), has long advocated for AI regulation and is critical of companies that train on human-made music without compensating creators.
According to a statement from the Human Artistry Campaign, "Profit-hungry technology companies have copied a massive amount of creative content online without authorization or payment to those who created it." The campaign argues that this practice not only hurts American creators but also undermines original works and makes it difficult for artists to continue producing new music.
In response, the coalition is pushing for AI companies to make licensing deals with creators. This move comes after several major labels and publishers entered into licensing agreements with AI services like Udio and Suno in recent months. These deals have helped resolve some of the claims brought by big-label groups against Suno and Udio in landmark copyright infringement litigation.
However, the fight is far from over. UMG still has active claims against Suno, and Sony has yet to settle with either AI company. The future of AI music training remains uncertain until more settlements are reached or a judge decides whether the principle of "fair use" allows for the conduct of "transformative" training using unlicensed works.
The campaign's efforts have garnered support from prominent actors like Scarlett Johansson and bestselling authors like Jodi Picoult, further highlighting the growing concern about AI-generated content theft.
The "Stealing Isn't Innovation" campaign, led by the Human Artistry Campaign, brings together nearly 800 creators who are protesting the unlicensed use of their work. The coalition, which includes prominent entertainment industry groups like the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA), has long advocated for AI regulation and is critical of companies that train on human-made music without compensating creators.
According to a statement from the Human Artistry Campaign, "Profit-hungry technology companies have copied a massive amount of creative content online without authorization or payment to those who created it." The campaign argues that this practice not only hurts American creators but also undermines original works and makes it difficult for artists to continue producing new music.
In response, the coalition is pushing for AI companies to make licensing deals with creators. This move comes after several major labels and publishers entered into licensing agreements with AI services like Udio and Suno in recent months. These deals have helped resolve some of the claims brought by big-label groups against Suno and Udio in landmark copyright infringement litigation.
However, the fight is far from over. UMG still has active claims against Suno, and Sony has yet to settle with either AI company. The future of AI music training remains uncertain until more settlements are reached or a judge decides whether the principle of "fair use" allows for the conduct of "transformative" training using unlicensed works.
The campaign's efforts have garnered support from prominent actors like Scarlett Johansson and bestselling authors like Jodi Picoult, further highlighting the growing concern about AI-generated content theft.