Elvis rightsholders and Eminem publisher sue AI music generator Suno

A group of Elvis Presley music rightsholders and Eminem's publisher have filed separate federal lawsuits against the AI music generator Suno, Variety reported.

The Presley suit, brought in the Northern District of California by a group that includes Authentic Brands Group and Raleigh Music Publishing, accuses Suno of copyright infringement and of exploiting Presley's identity whenever users cite his name to generate songs. The 51-page filing says Suno violated Tennessee's Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act, known as the ELVIS Act. Eight Mile Style, which controls hundreds of Eminem recordings including "Lose Yourself" and "The Real Slim Shady," alleges in its own case that Suno let users generate songs and lyrics that mirror the rapper's tracks. Eminem is not individually part of the suit.

Both complaints include examples of generated songs that allegedly sounded like Presley or reproduced Eminem's lyrics. "The next Elvis won't pick up a guitar," the plaintiffs' attorneys wrote in the Presley case.

The suits add to Suno's legal challenges, including cases from Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Round Hill Music, and a proposed class action led by musician Jason Isbell, whose allegations Suno has denied. Authentic Brands Group also joined a federal lawsuit last month claiming Anthropic trained Claude on 274 Presley songs. Suno raised $400 million in June at a $5.4 billion valuation.