Music Publisher Round Hill Files $1 Billion Copyright Infringement Suits Against Suno, Anthropic

Independent music publisher Round Hill is filing a $1 billion copyright infringement lawsuit against AI companies Suno and Anthropic. The lawsuit claims that the companies used hundreds of copyrighted songs without permission to train their AI systems. Round Hill argues that there is no merit in building billion-dollar AI businesses on stolen copyrighted material without compensating the rights holders.

The publisher, which includes copyrights for songs by Goo Goo Dolls, Bonnie Tyler, The Kinks, and Dio, provided a list of 500 songs that the defendants allegedly infringed upon. Round Hill plans to amend the list with potentially ten thousand or more copyrighted compositions, which could result in damages exceeding $1 billion. While AI proponents argue for progress and the value of AI to society, Round Hill's music attorney, Richard Busch, contends that the progress should not come at the expense of copyright holders.

Round Hill further points out that Suno and Anthropic's significant valuations, earned through the exploitation of illicit copies of copyrighted works, including Round Hill's works, are unfair and lacking in fairness, as the rights holders receive no compensation. Suno is also facing a lawsuit from Universal Music Group and Sony Music Group.