What if the next trending song you hear wasn’t sung by an actual human being at all? What if a new track you thought was by your favourite band wasn’t sung by them?
AI may not be taking over the pop industry overnight, but it’s definitely carving its way in.
AI has taken over every field of the world, whether it be technology, marketing, finance, or law. However, the field most profoundly affected is the creative arts, which includes cinema, fashion, digital art, and most notably, music.
The issue for the artists is two-fold. On one hand, they fear getting replaced by AI and on the other hand, they have a battle to fight, a battle to protect their rights!
AI music is taking over the music charts, topping Spotify’s global list, generating huge album sales, and breaking other music records, giving artists a tough time. But the real concern is not the rising competition; it’s unfair competition. For instance, the AI-generated synthetic musical band ‘The Velvet Sundown’ has gained 3.5 lakhs monthly listeners in the past 2 months. The band has faced several allegations of using bots to inflate their streams and illegally gain royalties from platforms like Spotify.
Global Pop stars such as Selena Gomez, Ed Sheeran, Drake, Lil Wayne and many others have voiced their concern over the matter on different occasions, either in interviews or on social media. BTS’s Jungkook, a member of the world’s biggest band, also expressed his concern during one of his live streams, over AI-generated music covers in his voice.
But what exactly are these rights that artists fear getting violated?
WHAT ARE THE RIGHTS OF THE ARTISTS
The authors, cinematographers, photographers, musicians, performers, and creators have the right to protect their original works, such as literary writings, books, plays, films, sound recordings, and other artistic works. This right is called Copyright.
There are essentially two types of copyright:
ECONOMIC RIGHTS
Artists are entitled to derive economic benefits from their original creations. These rights include the exclusive right to reproduce their work, issue copies, perform or communicate, adapt, translate it and even authorise others to use the work through assignment or licensing.
MORAL RIGHTS
Moral rights protect the dignity, credibility and reputation of both artists and their work. They include the right of paternity, i.e. right to be recognised as the author and duly credited for their work; and the right of integrity, i.e. to prevent their work from any sort of mutilation, distortion, modification, and defamation of the work.
The essential safeguard is that artists retain their moral rights even if the economic rights are transferred or assigned to another party.
HOW ARE ARTISTS’ RIGHTS PROTECTED
While these rights sound strong on paper, their enforcement depends on the legal framework. Many international, as well as national laws, govern the protection of such works all over the world.
The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, 1886, was the first international treaty ever to protect the original creations of the artists. More than 180 nation-states are its signatories. The Universal Copyright Convention (UCC), 1952, was adopted as an alternative to Berne, by countries such as United States, which were unwilling to accept the Berne’s stricter standards and sought more flexibility. However, the relevance of UCC today has considerably decreased after adoption of later treaties.
The Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations,1961, jointly administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), International Labour Organization (ILO), and UNESCO, further extended the protection to ‘neighbouring rights’, also called ‘related rights’, i.e., the rights of performers, phonogram producers (sound recording producers), and broadcasting organizations.
The laws and principles under the Berne Convention were further strengthened and expanded in the TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement, 1995, which is administered by the WTO (World Trade Organisation). In addition to the copyrights, this agreement also governs other essential areas of intellectual property, including trademarks, industrial designs, geographical indications, and patents.
To address challenges in the digital age, the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) were further adopted in 1996. These safeguard copyright and related rights in the digital environment, granting artists the right to distribute, rent, or communicate their works to the public through both wired and wireless means.
India joined the Berne Convention in 1928 and TRIPS in 1995, acknowledging the global need for regulation of IPR and Copyright protection for the original creators. In furtherance of these treaties, India enacted comprehensive laws governing IP rights, including the Copyright Act 1957. Under these laws, copyright subsists in the original works as soon as it is created, without the need for registration. Any unauthorised use of copyrighted material by someone other than the owner of the work or a licensed user constitutes copyright infringement. Musical and other artistic works are vulnerable to copyright violations, and anyone who infringes on the rights of the artists is liable for penalties under the national law.
But how does AI infringe upon the copyrights of the artists? And why is there no legal action upon such infringement?
HOW DOES AI INFRINGE COPYRIGHTS
AI is a fast-evolving technological development that is reshaping the dynamics of the world. 2025 has seen significant growth of AI in every field. It has not just become an essential part of our day-to-day and professional lives, but also a tool for influencing social media trends. From the Studio Ghibli-inspired art craze to AI-generated avatars, from deepfake celebrity videos to conversational AI chatbots, AI is all over Gen Z’s social media.
The voice cloning, an AI-generated cover of popular songs in the voices of famous artists, has emerged as one of the most popular yet controversial trends of TikTok. Drake singing Blackpink Jisoo’s ‘Flower’, Jimin covering Bollywood tracks, Michael Jackson performing Weekend’s “Timeless”, AI has given us music collaborations that fans once thought impossible. These trends have also sparked controversy on how AI trends have blurred the lines of creativity and infringement. The easy access to AI is mistaken for easy access to infringe on the rights of artists.
Beyond these viral trends, people are using AI to compose music, write lyrics, and generate songs that sound like a human voice. Several AI music apps have gained significant popularity in the industry. The apps like SUNO AI, UDIO, Mubert, AIVA, Boomy, etc, provide services such as text-to-music and vocal generation, beat composition, customizable song structure, genre mixing, and even producing complete tracks from a single text or melody prompt.
These AI trends and music apps raise critical questions on how far AI can go in violating intellectual property rights under the guise of innovation. Several major organisations have sued OpenAI for using copyrighted material to train gen-AI without consent. The courts across the world are filled with such lawsuits.
The ongoing New York Times lawsuit filed in 2023 is one of the earliest cases challenging OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging the unauthorised use of their copyrighted material to train AI language models. The infamous Thomson Reuters v. Ross Intelligence Inc.[i] case was recently decided by a US district court in February 2025, became the first major landmark judgment regarding copyright liability for AI, wherein it rejected the fair use doctrine as a defence by AI developers, for using copyrighted material to train their models. It held Ross Intelligence accountable for unauthorised use of Westlaw’s articles to train its AI legal search engine.
Similarly, AI music platforms are also facing such lawsuits for copyright violations. The following two major ongoing lawsuits are on the watchlist of everyone who follows or is part music and pop industry.
Major record labels (Sony, Universal, Warner) v. Suno and Udio, 2024[ii]
Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Records, through The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), filed lawsuits against AI music apps Suno and Udio in June 2024, seeking damages up to USD 150,000 per violation, for alleged mass copyright infringement.
The plaintiff has claimed that Suno and Udio have used voice recordings of artists to train their AI model and inculcate the same in their music app without any authorisation.
The defendants haven’t denied the use of copyright material, instead labelled it necessary to train AI model and tried to avail the defences of ‘fair use’ and ‘trade secret’ similar to previous lawsuits.
Asian News International (ANI) is the first organisation in India to sue OpenAI before the Delhi High Court, for alleged use of their copyright-protected news articles to train Gen-AI. The case gained the attention of the Indian music industry when leading Music labels Saregama, T-Series, and Sony Music also joined the lawsuit in February 2025, raising concerns regarding unauthorised use of voice recordings, lyrics and music compositions to train AI. This case has taken a path similar to the record label lawsuit discussed above.
It will be interesting to see how both cases will establish a precedent regulating gen AI in the Music industry worldwide.
WAY FORWARD
The Intellectual Property v. AI has become one of the most controversial debates around the world. Different opinions of people have surfaced, while some creators and artists are struggling to protect their rights, others view AI as a global phenomenon that is bound to change every industry. Many have already accepted AI as an unavoidable part of their daily lives, while others are cautious, warning us of the dangers of AI taking control over the world. The real challenge before us is not to resist AI but to regulate it wisely, ensuring that technology and creativity can coexist.
The only way forward is for lawmakers and experts to frame regulations that allow AI to be used to its full potential, subject to reasonable restrictions ensuring the protection of the rights of artists. There is an urgent need for laws that deal with the intersection of intellectual property and Artificial intelligence, rather than regulating both fields independently.
The question is not whether AI will stay, but whether our laws can keep pace with it before artists lose their voice in their own industry!
[i]Court: Training AI Model Based on Copyrighted Data Is Not Fair Use as a Matter of Law, The National Law Review- https://natlawreview.com/article/court-training-ai-model-based-copyrighted-data-not-fair-use-matter-law
Fair Use in AI Copyright Litigation: A Surprising Turn in Thomson Reuters v. Ross, Wolf Greenfield https://wolfgreenfield.com/articles/fair-use-in-ai-copyright-litigation-a-surprising-turn-in-thomson-reuters-v.-ross
Court shuts down AI fair use argument in Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GMBH v. Ross Intelligence Inc., Reed Smith LLP- https://www.reedsmith.com/en/perspectives/2025/03/court-ai-fair-use-thomson-reuters-enterprise-gmbh-ross-intelligence
[ii] Music labels sue AI companies Suno, Udio for US copyright infringement, Reuters- https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/music-labels-sue-ai-companies-suno-udio-us-copyright-infringement-2024-06-24/
Sony Music, Universal Music Group And Warner Records Sue AI Startups Suno And Udio For Copyright Infringement, Live Law- https://www.livelaw.in/more/international/sony-music-universal-music-group-and-warner-records-sue-ai-startups-suno-and-udio-copyright-infringement-261635
World’s biggest music labels sue over AI copyright, BBC- https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckrrr8yelzvo
[iii] Bollywood wants to be part of OpenAI India copyright case, Asia IP- https://www.asiaiplaw.com/sector/media/bollywood-wants-to-be-part-of-openai-india-copyright-case
Bollywood music labels seek to challenge OpenAI in India copyright lawsuit, Reuters- https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/bollywood-music-labels-seek-challenge-openai-india-copyright-lawsuit-2025-02-14/
ANI v. OpenAI in the Delhi HC: Everything so far and all that is at stake, The Leaflet- https://theleaflet.in/digital-rights/ani-v-openai-in-the-delhi-hc-everything-so-far-and-all-that-is-at-stake
Authored by: Ms. Shagun Behal
Ms. Shagun Behal is a BA LL.B. (Hons.) graduate (Class of 2025) from UILS, Panjab University. Her primary interests lie in Intellectual Property Rights, Data Privacy, and AI Law, with a particular focus on the intersection of IPR and Artificial Intelligence. She actively engages in legal research, critique, and writing on contemporary legal issues.
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