Czech Copyright Association Plans Lawsuit Against Suno for Unauthorized AI Training

(Central News Agency, Prague, July 1) The Czech Copyright Protection Association (OSA) is preparing to file a lawsuit against Suno, a company providing AI music generation services. OSA Chairman of the Board Roman Strejček stated that Suno has used original works by music creators represented by the association for unauthorized training of artificial intelligence models to generate music and lyrics.

A recent investigative report published by The Atlantic revealed that AI music creation platforms such as Suno and Udio, among others, use large databases of millions of songs to train AI models. Many works by Czech and Slovak musicians can be found in publicly available databases.

According to the Czech News Agency (ČTK), Strejček said that this AI service extracts all musical content from the internet without the knowledge and consent of authors and artists to train models that generate music and lyrics.

He said, "We have collected evidence proving that this service reproduces original works by composers and lyricists we represent. It can even generate complete choruses of songs by well-known Czech authors."

Strejček pointed out that these services not only reproduce original sound recordings but also store copies of them in training datasets. "Some services even go so far as to bypass the security mechanisms of paid subscription platforms to obtain original recordings."

He believes that in such cases, the exception provided by the EU for scientific research purposes cannot be invoked.

Strejček further stated, "I am not afraid to say that all 'artistic' content currently generated by AI can be considered illegal. Therefore, it should not be used at all, perhaps with the sole exception of background music for home videos."

Data shows that one database includes 50 songs by Czech male singer Daniel Landa and 133 works by Czech singer-songwriter Aneta Langerová. Additionally, works by the Czech band prázdniny can be found in the database.

Michael Schneibert, a member of prázdniny and music producer, stated on Instagram, "I don't think anyone who truly loves art, or is an artist themselves, would consider generative AI to have a positive impact on our world."

Schneibert added, "We are just a small independent band from the Czech Republic, and we have never authorized anyone to use our music to train AI."

Furthermore, works by several Slovak musicians, including Berlin Manson, Fvck_Kvlt, Bez ladu a skladu, and Tublatanka, can also be searched for in the database.

Dominika Semaňáková, PR Manager of the Slovak Copyright Protection Association (SOZA), commented, "Our position on this matter is very clear. Artificial intelligence can bring benefits, but its development cannot be built on the sacrifice of creators' rights."

Semaňáková said, "Behind every work lies a creator's experience, life story, and every creative decision. These cannot be replaced by algorithms and should not be overlooked in the development of commercial technology products."

The Atlantic's investigation found four large song databases shared by AI developer communities, with the largest containing 12 million songs, which would take 91 years to play in full.

These databases cover popular songs by many famous artists, including The Beatles, Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Olivia Rodrigo, Nirvana, and others, as well as a large number of works by small, medium, and independent musicians.

In a court filing submitted in 2024, Suno stated that its AI model was trained using "virtually all music files that could be downloaded from the internet and met a reasonable standard of quality," and argued that this practice complies with U.S. copyright law. (Editor: Wei Shu) 1150701)