Artificial Intelligence - CMU | the music business explained

North American songwriter groups join call for transparency and creator consent as music companies start signing AI deals

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MCNA • 3 min read

North American songwriter groups join call for transparency and creator consent as music companies start signing AI deals

Music Creators North America have called on labels and publishers to commit to deal transparency and creator consent around any agreements they reach with AI companies, such as Universal’s deal with Udio. They join the US Music Artists Coalition and UK Council Of Music Makers in making those demands…

Chris Cooke • 14 Nov 2025

No “self-service buffet” for AI companies says GEMA CEO as OpenAI loses landmark lyrics lawsuit

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GEMA • 3 min read

No “self-service buffet” for AI companies says GEMA CEO as OpenAI loses landmark lyrics lawsuit

A German court has ruled that OpenAI infringed the copyrights of GEMA songwriters when it made copies of their lyrics without permission. The collecting society says this “landmark” ruling clarifies “key legal questions concerning the way new technology interacts with European copyright law”…

Chris Cooke • 11 Nov 2025

“Misleading rhetoric and “deceitful buzzwords” not good enough, says Council Of Music Makers in call for creator consent, control and compensation in AI deals

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Artificial Intelligence • 2 min read

“Misleading rhetoric and “deceitful buzzwords” not good enough, says Council Of Music Makers in call for creator consent, control and compensation in AI deals

Following last week’s announcement that Universal Music has signed deals with AI companies Udio and Stability, the UK’s Council Of Music Makers has called on the music industry to pledge to secure explicit music creator consent before including their recordings and songs in any AI deals…

Chris Cooke • 06 Nov 2025

Judgement in Getty’s UK lawsuit against Stability “underscores growing gap” between copyright and tech, says leading lawyer

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Stability AI • 4 min read

Judgement in Getty’s UK lawsuit against Stability “underscores growing gap” between copyright and tech, says leading lawyer

Stability AI has won its copyright dispute with Getty Images in the UK courts. This began as what many saw as the landmark AI copyright case under UK law, of relevance to all rights owners, including in the music industry. However, in the end the judge only considered a very narrow copyright issue…

Chris Cooke • 04 Nov 2025

“Innovation can’t be built on stolen goods” says Koda CEO, as Danish collecting society sues Suno

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Suno • 2 min read

“Innovation can’t be built on stolen goods” says Koda CEO, as Danish collecting society sues Suno

We have another music industry AI lawsuit in Europe. Danish collecting society Koda is suing Suno which it says has stolen “our members’ creative work and fed it into its machines without consent, transparency or remuneration”. It follows German society GEMA in suing Suno for copyright infringement…

Chris Cooke • 04 Nov 2025

Artists must have creative control in AI deals or risk ending up with “scraps”, says US artist trade body

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Music Artists Coalition • 3 min read

Artists must have creative control in AI deals or risk ending up with “scraps”, says US artist trade body

Last week Universal Music settled its legal dispute with AI company Udio and licensed a new AI-powered music service that Udio will launch next year. While it’s good Udio is engaging with the industry, that deal raises an assortment of concerns and questions, says the US Music Artists Coalition…

Chris Cooke • 03 Nov 2025

After Anthropic’s $1.5 billion settlement, big tech takes aim at statutory damages in copyright disputes, seeks Trump’s support

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Artificial Intelligence • 4 min read

After Anthropic’s $1.5 billion settlement, big tech takes aim at statutory damages in copyright disputes, seeks Trump’s support

Last month Donald Trump asked for more submissions on AI regulation. One lobby group has used its submission to not only argue that AI training is ‘fair use’, but to also criticise statutory damages in US copyright law which it says are unfairly forcing AI companies into billion dollar settlements…

Chris Cooke • 29 Oct 2025

North American collecting societies open door to “partially AI-generated” musical works

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Artificial Intelligence • 2 min read

North American collecting societies open door to “partially AI-generated” musical works

ASCAP, BMI and SOCAN have announced they will allow new AI-assisted songs and compositions to be logged in their respective databases, though entirely AI-generated works cannot be registered. It comes amid increased debate over how industry and digital platforms should deal with AI-generated music…

Chris Cooke • 29 Oct 2025

Australian government blocks potential AI copyright exception

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Artificial Intelligence • 3 min read

Australian government blocks potential AI copyright exception

Australia’s Attorney-General Michelle Rowland has said that the country will not introduce a new copyright exception for the benefit of AI companies. It’s news that has been welcomed by the music and wider copyright industries, which want similar commitments from other governments around the world…

Chris Cooke • 27 Oct 2025

Suno doesn’t understand copyright law and is wrong about stream-ripping rules, say major labels

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Suno • 3 min read

Suno doesn’t understand copyright law and is wrong about stream-ripping rules, say major labels

The majors have made another filing in their legal battle with Suno. They want to add claims that the AI company sourced its training data by illegally stream-ripping audio from YouTube. Suno insists it didn’t violate stream-ripping rules in US law, but the majors say Suno is misreading those rules…

Chris Cooke • 22 Oct 2025

Spotify promises “artist-first AI music products” as it announces alliance with majors, Merlin and Believe

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Spotify • 2 min read

Spotify promises “artist-first AI music products” as it announces alliance with majors, Merlin and Believe

Spotify has pledged to “put artists and songwriters first” when developing music AI products, committing to work in partnership with the music industry and ensuring that its AI ventures are fully licensed. The three majors, Merlin and Believe are all on board for some Spotify-led AI experimentation…

Chris Cooke • 17 Oct 2025

New Udio lawsuit hones in on the “significant and unequal harm” inflicted on independent musicians by music AI

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Udio • 3 min read

New Udio lawsuit hones in on the “significant and unequal harm” inflicted on independent musicians by music AI

Udio has been sued again for copyright infringement, this time by a group of independent artists and songwriters. Although the majors are already suing Udio, the music creators say that their lawsuit “emphasises the significant and unequal harm inflicted on independent musicians by AI”…

Chris Cooke • 17 Oct 2025