Elvis and Eminem rights holders sue Suno over AI songs

Suno gets sued every few months. This pair is worth reading because one of them is about a voice.

Two separate suits landed against Suno, Engadget reports, first reported by Variety. Both were filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, per Music Times' summary of the filings. One comes from the group that owns the rights to Elvis Presley's music. The other comes from Eight Mile Style, a publisher of Eminem's music. Eminem himself is not a party, per Music Times.

What the two suits claim

Eight Mile Style's complaint was filed Friday, Nov. 6, per CBS reporting cited by Music Times. It covers 269 musical compositions the publisher says it owns or controls.

The publisher asks for a finding of willful infringement, for unauthorized copies to be impounded or destroyed, and for damages that could exceed $40 million. That figure is a request, not an award.

It alleges Suno copied songs to train its system, scraped songs and lyrics from YouTube Music, Deezer and Genius, got around protections, and altered copyright management information. Music Times says the scraping claim cites reporting by 404 Media.

The Presley suit is brought by Authentic Brands Group and Raleigh Music Publishing. Its 51-page complaint alleges copyright infringement and exploitation of Presley's identity, including music that imitates his voice, and it invokes Tennessee's ELVIS Act.

The plaintiffs' attorneys say Suno's conduct threatens to "make human creativity obsolete," per Engadget.

Suno says it blocks this already

Suno says it does not allow "any unauthorized use of an artist's work," that it prohibits using "specific artists' names and songs," and that it works with third-party companies to screen for "potential misuse," according to Engadget.

The same Presley rights group has also sued Anthropic over training on Presley's works. Suno already faces suits from Sony Music and Universal Music Group, while Warner Music Group dropped its suit last year in exchange for a licensing deal.

The voice is the new front

Copyright suits over training data are the old fight, and they move slowly.

The ELVIS Act claim is different. Signed in March 2024, the law extends Tennessee's name, image and likeness protections to a performer's voice, per Music Times. That puts the output on trial: whether a generated track that sounds like Elvis is itself the harm.

If that argument works, voice cloning by prompt stops being a gray area for anyone selling the result.

What it means for you

If you use AI music for ads, videos or anything you sell, keep it away from named artists and sound-alike prompts. A tool's terms protect the tool first.

If you only make songs for fun, nothing changes today.

What to watch

Watch Suno's first response in court, and whether it asks to move or narrow the Presley voice claim.

The voice claim is the one to follow.