Elvis and Eminem's rights holders sue Suno over AI-generated soundalikes
Two new federal lawsuits accuse the AI music generator of training on copyrighted songs and letting users churn out tracks that mimic Presley's voice and Eminem's lyrics.
What happened: On November 7, two rights-holder groups filed separate federal lawsuits against AI music generator Suno in the Northern District of California. One, from Elvis Presley Enterprises, Authentic Brands Group, Raleigh Music Publishing and other Presley rights holders, says Suno let users generate songs that imitate Presley's voice and seeks more than $50 million. The other, from Eight Mile Style, which controls 269 Eminem compositions including "Lose Yourself" and "Stan," says Suno trained on its catalog without permission and seeks about $41 million. The same legal team, led by attorney Richard Busch, filed both cases.
Why it matters: The Presley case is one of the first major tests of Tennessee's ELVIS Act, a 2024 law written specifically to stop unauthorized AI cloning of a performer's voice, image and likeness. If it holds up against Suno, it could become a template other artists' estates use nationwide, well beyond copyright law's usual tools. The complaint argues Suno's technology risks replacing the next generation of musicians before they even pick up an instrument.
How it works, plainly: Both lawsuits claim Suno copied copyrighted recordings and lyrics into its training data without licensing them, then built a product that can spit out new songs sounding like the original artists when prompted. Suno says it blocks prompts naming specific artists or songs and screens uploaded audio and lyrics for misuse, insisting its tool is meant for original music, not for trading on anyone's name or sound.
The rollout: These are the latest in a pile of suits against Suno, joining cases from Universal Music Group, Sony Music, Round Hill Music and Reservoir. Warner Music settled and licensed its catalog to Suno last year, and BMG and Believe signed deals too, feeding Suno's new label-backed model this September. But UMG and Sony sued again over that same model, saying it still infringes. None of it has dented Suno's business: the company raised $400 million in June at a $5.4 billion valuation.