Report says Suno’s copyright checks can be bypassed to mimic songs

In short: A new report says people can get Suno to generate music that closely imitates famous copyrighted songs, even though Suno says this is not allowed.

What happened

Suno is an AI music service where you can type in lyrics or instructions and it generates a song. Suno’s Terms of Service say users are not allowed to upload or use copyrighted material, like another artist’s lyrics or recordings. Suno also says it tries to filter and stop that kind of use.

The Verge reports that these protections can be bypassed with minimal effort. The article describes how someone can use simple, free tools to guide Suno into producing close imitations of popular songs, including a reported example tied to Beyoncé’s music. In plain terms, the filters are described as more like a speed bump than a locked door.

Suno’s written policies also spell out who “owns” songs made on the platform. Suno’s help pages say that on its free plan, Suno keeps ownership and users can only use the music for non-commercial purposes and must give credit. Paid subscribers are told they own the songs they generate during their subscription and they can use them commercially, but Suno warns that US copyright law may not protect a song that has no meaningful human input.

Why it matters

If it is easy to create sound-alike tracks, it can be harder for listeners, artists, and platforms to tell what is original and what is an imitation. It also raises legal and money questions, like who is responsible if a track gets uploaded to streaming services and sounds too much like a real song.

Source: The Verge AI