Rights Holders for Elvis Presley and Eminem File New Lawsuits Against AI Music Startup Suno
The rights holders of Elvis Presley and the publisher behind major Eminem hits have launched legal actions against Suno, alleging the AI platform illegally clones artists' voices, styles, and lyrics.
Double Legal Challenge Over AI Voice Cloning
AI music generation platform Suno is facing two additional lawsuits targeting its technology. Rights holders representing the estate of Elvis Presley and the publisher of several of Eminem’s prominent records have filed legal actions against the company, alleging that Suno illegally generates music and lyrics that mimic the distinct styles and voices of the legendary performers.
The complaint filed on behalf of Presley's rights holders specifically invokes Tennessee's Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act. Passed to protect performers against unauthorized voice synthesis, the law prohibits AI platforms from cloning a singer's voice without permission.
Attorneys representing Presley’s estate argued in the complaint that "Suno has mechanically encoded itself with artists’ identities, hard-work, creativity, and time, and harnessed them all for a consistent conveyor belt of cold hard cash."
Accusations of Undermining Human Creativity
The suit further accuses the platform of attempting to displace human musicians through automated output. Lawyers wrote that "Suno’s ravenous race to the bottom aims to make human creativity obsolete, coldly replicating without a license in seconds what takes years to learn, struggle with, maintain, and endlessly attempt to make better and perfect."
These new legal challenges echo a similar lawsuit filed in September by artist Jason Isbell and other musicians, which alleged that Suno created unauthorized artist imitations without making a direct claim of copyright infringement.
Suno Defends Its Platform Safeguards
In response to the allegations, Suno spokesperson Cat McCormack stated that the platform was designed to foster user creativity rather than copy established artists.
"Suno exists to help people create new, original music, not to trade on anyone’s name or likeness, and we prohibit any unauthorized use of an artist’s work," McCormack said. She added that Suno blocks prompts featuring specific artist names and song titles, while working alongside third-party providers to screen uploaded audio files and text lyrics for potential misuse. McCormack emphasized that the company continues to add safeguards to protect artists and platform users.
The latest filings add to a growing stack of high-profile legal battles for Suno, which is already confronting lawsuits from major music publishers and labels, including Sony, Universal Music Group (UMG), Reservoir Media, and individual artists.
