Jason Isbell has joined forces with other musicians to file a class action lawsuit against Suno, an AI music platform. The lawsuit accuses the company of using artists’ identifying characteristics to train its artificial intelligence without permission. The complaint was filed in Massachusetts federal court and includes 17 different legal claims.
Isbell, along with David Lowery of Camper Van Beethoven, blues singer Guy Forsyth, and jazz saxophonist Ed Calle, are the lead plaintiffs, according to Billboard. They argue that Suno’s system recognizes a musician’s name not just as text but as a key to generate content tied to that person. This allows users to prompt the AI with an artist’s name and get back songs, descriptions, and images that mimic that person.
For example, when someone types in “Jason Isbell,” the AI creates a song titled “Paper Bell” with a voice that sounds like his, according to a report from Consequence. Another example involves the band Camper Van Beethoven, which generated a song matching their musical style, according to the legal action. Suno claims it has filters to block prompts with specific artist names, but the lawsuit says those filters are easily bypassed.
One way to get around the filters is to type a name with spaces between each letter. The lawsuit gives examples of how this works, such as typing “m i c h a e l j a c k s o n” to get a song resembling Michael Jackson. The complaint says the platform is built to identify musicians by name and generate identity-evocative output on command.
The lawsuit argues that this is a violation of rights of publicity under state laws in New York, California, and Tennessee. These rights are separate from copyright law, which is the basis of other lawsuits against Suno by record labels. The lawsuit also points out that even if a label holds copyright, artists still own their names and likenesses.
This means artists can bring claims against Suno even if their labels have licenses with the platform. Suno responded by saying it believes the claims are without merit and that it intends to defend itself. The company said it exists to help people create original music and not to use anyone’s name for commercial gain.
It also claimed it has protections in place to stop prompting with artist names or copyrighted songs. The lawsuit requests that the court certify this as a class action to include other affected musicians. They also ask for monetary damages, profits from non-consensual use of identities, and payment for legal fees.
A jury trial was requested by the musicians. This lawsuit is part of a broader debate about how AI is changing the music industry. Some artists support using AI to create music, while others worry it undermines creativity and harms their livelihoods.
Other musicians and bands have also faced issues with AI-generated content that mimics their work. The lawsuit highlights how Suno’s system is designed to respond to names and generate identity-evocative outputs. It is not just about copying songs, but about how the platform uses an artist’s entire persona to train its AI.
The case raises questions about ownership and consent in the digital age, especially in creative fields like music. Suno’s approach to training its AI models appears to rely on vast amounts of music data, including works by artists who never consented, digitalmusicnews.com reported. Another lawsuit from Latin music publisher Gerencia 360 also accuses Suno of using unauthorized recordings and compositions.
This case involves hundreds of songs, including one titled ’15 Besos’ performed by Cornelio Vega y Su Dinastia. Even though Suno didn’t create a song with the original Spanish lyrics, it did make one in the same style with English lyrics. The growing number of lawsuits shows that issues around AI and music are becoming increasingly serious.
IMAGE: Bryan Ledgard from Yorkshire, UK – Jason Isbell CC BY 2.0