New lawsuit alleges that the online giant’s AI music business is a vertically-integrated syndicate that illegally copies music, launders ownership, and unfairly competes in the marketplace with real musicians.
CHICAGO — Led by Illinois-based artists, a group of independent musicians from across the country have banded together to take on Google, the second-largest technology company in the world, over the widespread theft and distribution of copyrighted material.
“This is a case about what Google took, what it built with it, and what it never paid for,” the musicians’ new lawsuit, Kogon et al v. Google LLC, begins.
The AI industry has already been hit with numerous lawsuits arguing that its models rely on stealing and copying original works in violation of copyright laws. However, this new lawsuit goes far beyond this argument, and represents what may be the broadest, most comprehensive attack on the business model of AI-generated music.
The lawsuit alleges that Google controls and operates a vertically integrated syndicate of companies that not only generates AI music tracks (through products like Lyria 3 and ProducerAI), but also launders those tracks of their proper copyright identifications through ContentID, and distributes them through its online outlets like YouTube.
“Google owns the platform where independent musicians distribute their music. Google runs the system that identifies who owns it. And then Google used both to train a product that competes with the very artists who trusted it with their work. No other defendant in any AI copyright case had this kind of access or this kind of knowledge. Google knew exactly what it was taking and who it belonged to,” says attorney Ross Kimbarovsky of Loevy + Loevy, who represents the plaintiffs. “Independent musicians write the songs, record the vocals, and build careers around their music. Google copied the work of millions of them, stripped off their names, and launched a competing product to 750 million people. That is not innovation. It is theft at scale.”
The lawsuit alleges that Google uses its uniquely privileged position in the market supply chain to copy millions of copyrighted works, and saves them as assets within their music generation system. To “launder” these works and stymie traceability, Google strips them of copyright management information (CMI), in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Then, when Google’s users incorporate these assets into the music they generate through Lyria 3 or ProducerAI, Google identifies the end-user as the new creator, essentially generating phony CMI for the stolen works. Finally, Google uses its control of the monetization market (through YouTube and other outlets) to distribute these works, endorsing them as “legal” and profiting off their theft to a scale with which no independent artist could possibly compete.
“Google licenses music every day for YouTube, for commercials, for film. It knows how licensing works. If Google wanted to use a song in an ad, it would need a license. If it wanted to use a song in a movie, it would need a license. But Google copied millions of songs to build a commercial music generator and decided the rules didn’t apply to them. We’re here to remind them that they do,” Kimbarovsky says.
As the complaint argues, Google’s own statements and documentation show that they were aware of the copyright issues and legal risks involved in their practices. For example, Google has publicly stated that it was “very mindful of copyright and partner agreements.” However, the complaint says, it “has not named any agreement. It has not specified a single license covering training data. It has not explained any process by which an artist could have consented, objected, or opted out.”
“Google had every opportunity to develop this product legally,” the complaint goes on to say. “Google chose not to do so, not because licensing was impossible, but because copying was faster and cheaper.”
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include New York-based singer/songwriter Sam Kogon, Atlanta-based songwriter and producer Michael Mell, Los Angeles-based composer Magnus Fiennes, and Illinois-based artists David “Davo Sounds” Woulard of Attack the Sound, father-and-son recording duo Stan and James Burjek (who release music under the names “The Burjek Collective,” “Smackin’ Billies,” and “Pool Deck Duel”); and musicians Berk Ergoz, Hamza Jilani, Maatkara Wilson, and Arjun Singh, who perform as Directrix, a Chicago-based band. The lawsuit also seeks class certification, making the plaintiffs representatives of all individuals similarly impacted.
The lawsuit asks a federal jury to rule on damages related to 16 violations of the musicians’ rights under federal and state law, including copyright infringement, fraud and deceptive practices, illegal distribution, false endorsement, and false advertising.
Additionally, as Google’s privacy notice for ProducerAI states that it “may involve the extraction of a biometric voiceprint from a vocal recording,” the complaint charges violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), which prohibits capturing and storing biometric information without explicit permission from the subject.
Plaintiffs are represented by Ross Kimbarovsky, Jon Loevy, Mike Kanovitz, Matt Topic, and Aaron Tucek of Loevy + Loevy.