Multiple parties with stakes in major artists’ catalogs have initiated legal action against the AI music generator Suno in the Northern District of California. The Presley-related entities, including Authentic Brands Group and Raleigh Music Publishing, filed a 51-page complaint alleging copyright infringement and violations of Tennessee’s ELVIS Act, a 2024 law designed to prevent unauthorized voice cloning. They contend that Suno users can generate songs mimicking Presley’s distinctive vocal qualities without authorization or compensation.
Eight Mile Style, which manages hundreds of recordings by Eminem including major hits, brought a separate case claiming the platform allows users to create songs with lyrics and styles replicating the rapper’s work. The attorneys representing both groups characterized Suno’s operations as mechanically encoding artists’ identities and creativity into a profit-generating system. In their filing, they argued that widespread AI music generation threatens to make traditional musical artistry obsolete by instantly replicating what requires years of human effort to develop.
The lawsuits parallel an earlier class-action case filed by musician Jason Isbell and others, who alleged Suno’s platform enables identity exploitation. Previous litigation has shown that users can circumvent restrictions on specific artist names by using alternative prompts, real names instead of stage names, or other workarounds. Suno has consistently denied allegations, stating it prohibits unauthorized use of artists’ work and employs screening mechanisms to prevent misuse.
The legal challenges represent escalating efforts to establish whether artists and estates can use courts to protect their identities from AI companies lacking explicit authorization. Similar cases have been filed against other AI developers, with Authentic Brands Group also suing Anthropic over training its AI chatbot on Presley songs, and Eight Mile Style pursuing Meta for storing Eminem recordings. Warner Music Group settled its case against Suno previously, and subsequent licensing deals enabled the platform’s newer model, though UMG and Sony Music have challenged it as derivative of infringing practices.
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