Jason Isbell Sues Suno Alleging AI System Is Using Musicians’ Identities Without Consent

Jason Isbell and other notable musicians have filed a class action lawsuit against Suno, the AI music-creating software, alleging the company uses musicians’ identities without their permission to generate music that copies their styles. Isbell, along with Camper Van Beethoven’s David Lowery, blues guitarist and songwriter Guy Forsyth, and jazz saxophonist Eduardo Calle filed the 84-page lawsuit in a Massachusetts federal court Monday and hit Suno with 17 claims that the company violated various state and territorial laws pertaining to personal publicity rights. “A kid listening to music and then trying out a riff on his guitar is not the same as creating a name indexed commercial product based on essentially all available music on the internet,” the lawsuit said. “A musician’s identity is their property, but Suno took it without consent. This lawsuit is how these musicians resist the premise that resistance is futile.” The lawsuit does not focus on musicians’ specific songs being ripped off. No copyright claims were alleged. What the complaint alleges is that Suno intentionally created a system that allows a musician’s name to be used as an AI prompt to generate music that lifts f...