The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) has initiated legal action against Suno, accusing the AI music generator of violating the performing rights of music within SOCAN’s collection. SOCAN, the largest member-driven music rights organization in Canada comprising over 200,000 songwriters, composers, and music publishers, highlighted 150 publicly accessible Suno outputs that replicate songs by SOCAN’s members in the lawsuit.
Andrea Kokonis, SOCAN’s chief legal officer and general counsel, emphasized the importance of ensuring that members receive compensation for the use of their music and sending a clear message to AI services regarding the consequences of unauthorized music usage. Suno allows users to create AI vocals, instrumentation, and production for beats and songs. SOCAN alleged that Suno trained its AI models on a wide range of music files from the internet without proper permissions or licenses, resulting in numerous outputs resembling SOCAN’s songs being generated and streamed without consent or compensation.
Some of the songs by SOCAN members mentioned in the lawsuit include tracks such as “Bobcaygeon” by The Tragically Hip, “Sk8er Boi” by Avril Lavigne, “Life Is a Highway” by Tom Cochrane, “Femme Like U” by K-Maro, and “A New Day Has Come” by Céline Dion. Kokonis stressed that while many songwriters and composers embrace AI as a creative tool, they should still be fairly compensated for the use of their work.
SOCAN’s CEO, Jennifer Brown, expressed the organization’s commitment to protecting the rights of music creators and publishers, especially when their works are at risk. Brown emphasized that innovation should not undermine human creativity and that the future of music should be safeguarded for those who create it. In a similar vein, major record labels like Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music have also taken legal action against Suno for copyright infringement.
Kokonis reinforced the importance of recognizing music as a human-driven art form and protecting the livelihood of music creators. The lawsuit against Suno aims to address the direct competition posed by AI-generated outputs that do not compensate human creators for their work. The case reflects the significance of safeguarding creativity and supporting those who contribute to the music industry.
Various artists mentioned in the lawsuit have been contacted for their comments, and updates on the situation will be provided as necessary.