Reservoir is the latest music company to sue Suno and Anthropic, accusing the artificial intelligence labs in new lawsuits of infringing famous songs by Madonna, Johnny Cash, and Joni Mitchell to train their models and “replace the artists.”
The indie publisher filed a pair of federal cases Wednesday, alleging the two companies each effectively stole its copyrighted songs in order to create AI that could spit out new ones. Reservoir says each lab “built its entire business model based on copyright infringement at a scale never seen before.”
The Allegations
“Suno made illicit copies of millions of copyrighted musical works, including Reservoir’s Works, and then — without any remuneration to the rights holders — created a platform where anyone capable of paying $10 per month can create complete songs based entirely on these illicit copies,” Reservoir’s attorney Richard Busch writes in the lawsuits.
The case claims that the two companies stole “some of the most iconic lyrics and melodies in music history,” including Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi,” Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” and Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach,” as well as other tracks by Glenn Miller, Kings of Leon, and Evanescence.
The Response
In a statement to Billboard on Thursday, an Anthropic spokesperson said: “We disagree with the allegations and intend to defend this case vigorously.” A representative for Suno declined to comment.
AI firms use millions of existing works to “train” models to create new ones — a process that has sparked a flood of lawsuits from authors, visual artists, movie studios, and record labels. AI labs say they have transformed all those works into something new that is a form of legal fair use. Human authors disagree, and billions in potential damages and licenses turn on that unresolved legal battle.
The Broader Legal Fight
Suno, the leading AI music firm, has long faced such litigation from major music companies and more recently from smaller publishers like Round Hill Music and groups of individual musicians. Anthropic, the AI giant behind Claude, has faced numerous such lawsuits across industries, including ongoing cases from music firms.
Warner Music Group reached a settlement to end its case against Suno last year, and the AI firm has since reached similar deals with BMG and Believe. Earlier this year, the AI company launched a new model that it touted as a “partnership” with the music business. But Suno has failed to persuade Universal Music Group and Sony Music, which are continuing to sue in federal court and say the new model is still illegal.
The ‘Replace the Artists’ Claim
In Wednesday’s new case, Reservoir took a similar stance against Suno, sharply criticizing the company’s recent “about-face” and “sudden willingness” to work with the music industry.
“Suno’s business model was admittedly and clearly: infringe now, make billions by being the first mover, and try to settle on the cheap later,” Busch writes in that complaint. “Seeking forgiveness is clearly more profitable than permission, which they obviously could have done but consciously chose not to do.”
The platform was “never meant to be a tool for artists to create music,” Reservoir writes, “but was instead always meant to replace the artists whose works were being unlawfully copied by directly reaching those artists’ listeners with AI-generated substitutes which copy the originals.”
The Bottom Line
Reservoir has sued Suno and Anthropic, accusing the AI labs of stealing copyrighted songs by Madonna, Johnny Cash, and Joni Mitchell to train their models. The lawsuits allege the companies built their business models on mass copyright infringement. Anthropic says it will defend the case vigorously. Suno declined to comment. The lawsuits are the latest in a growing legal battle over whether AI training on copyrighted works constitutes fair use.
My Opinion
AI companies have spent years telling us they are building the future. But the future they are building is one where a machine can listen to Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell, and Madonna, learn everything that made them great, and then spit out copies that sound just like them — without paying a dime to the people who created the originals.
Reservoir’s lawsuit is not just about money. It is about the principle that artists own their work. Suno’s business model, according to the complaint, was never to help artists create. It was to replace them. To use their songs as raw material and then sell the product back to their own listeners.
The AI labs will argue fair use. They will say their models transform the work into something new. But there is nothing transformative about a machine that can generate a new Johnny Cash song without Johnny Cash.
