AI Devours Millions of Music Tracks

Vast datasets, including databases with up to 12 million music tracks, have been published, revealing the extensive use of copyrighted music for AI training. These collections feature hit songs from prominent artists such as Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny, raising significant legal questions. Several lawsuits have been filed against generative AI music platforms like Suno and Udio. These platforms have frequently used fair use as a defense against claims of wholesale content scraping for their AI models.

While a similar case in book publishing did not succeed on copyright infringement claims, piracy allegations have proven more compelling. The outcome and financial settlement of that suit are still pending, though an initial settlement reached $1.5 billion. The newly released music databases could empower parties in the music industry to pursue similar legal actions. Streaming services are attempting to identify or label AI-generated content, but these efforts have met with mixed success, and AI copycats continue to emerge.