Musician brings the fight to Suno and Udio for indie music
Anthony Justice is taking a stand for independent musicians, filing a lawsuit against Suno and Udio AI music generators.
Another lawsuit against the AI companies
Country musician and label owner Anthony Justice has filed class action lawsuits against AI music generators Suno and Udio. His goal? To protect the rights of indie artists across the US.
Filed in federal courts in Massachusetts (against Suno) and New York (against Udio), the lawsuits claim that these platforms scraped and used millions of songs without permission to train their AI models. Justice alleges that this practice has particularly hurt independent creators who don’t have the same legal or financial backing as major labels.
The move follows lawsuits filed by the major labels last year. While major labels have since rumouredly begun licensing talks with these AI platforms, indie artists have largely been “left without a seat at the table”. Justice says it’s time for that to change.
Why fight back?
At the heart of the lawsuit lies a familiar story: the unauthorized use of copyrighted content to train the models, whereby AI companies profit from its infringement.
The lawsuit acknowledges that “Suno has openly and unapologetically admitted” to scraping millions of tracks- most of which are likely “owned and controlled by independent artists”. Since major labels only control a fraction of all music on streaming platforms, it’s indie musicians whose work is most likely to have been taken. Consequently, Justice argues that indie artists are the ones “whose rights have been trampled the most”.
Justice alleges that these companies are generating “AI-soundalike music at virtually no cost”. He calls this an “unconscionable attack on the music community’s most vulnerable and valuable creators”.
A fair use defence?
Like many AI companies facing legal heat, Suno and Udio believe that their use of copyrighted material falls under “fair use”.
Justice isn’t having it. The lawsuit addresses this fair use argument preemptively, arguing that it doesn’t constitute fair use. His lawsuit refers to the recent US Copyright Office report on AI and fair use, which was quickly released last month before Donald Trump fired the head of the Copyright Office Shira Perlmutter.
The report casts serious doubt on the idea that training AI on expressive, copyrighted works can be justified as fair use- especially when the resulting output (music in this case) competes directly in the same market. As a result, arguing that it would infringe on the rights of indie artists.
Who stands to gain
If the lawsuit is successful, independent artists are set to benefit.
Who are those artists exactly? Well, the suit aims to represent every US indie artist, songwriter, or producer who “own sound recordings” that have been made available on any internet streaming service “at any time since January 1, 2021”.
Justice estimates the number of potential beneficiaries to be in the “thousands”, and would be impractical to add them to the litigation directly.
Why it matters
Justice’s lawsuit is about more than just compensation, it’s about making sure independent voices aren’t lost in the race to commercialize AI-generated music. The issue doesn’t seem to be going anywhere either, as Suno has been launching new features despite facing lawsuits from every direction.
While major labels are already negotiating licenses, indie artists have been stuck on the sidelines. Justice is looking to change that.
If you’re an indie artist, this case might just help protect your future.
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