Indie Artists File Suit Against Google Over Lyria 3 Training

A collection of independent musicians and songwriters has sued Google, claiming it trained its new Lyria 3 music-generation model on copyrighted recordings from YouTube without consent or remuneration.

The accusations:

• As per Music Business Worldwide, the plaintiffs argue that “Google copied millions of copyrighted recordings, musical compositions, and lyric, including at least 44 million clips and 280,000 hours of music” to train Lyria 3.

• The case highlights the fact that Google doesn’t only operate a music generator, but owns YouTube – a vital tool for music discovery – and runs YouTube’s rights management system Content ID, through which artists and labels can identify unauthorized use of their work.

• The lawsuit states: “Google had every opportunity to develop this product legally... It has the technical infrastructure, financial resources, and industry connections to clear rights before training.”

The plaintiffs:

• New York-based singer-songwriter Sam Kogon joins David Woulard of R&B group Attack the Sound, father-and-son duo Stan and James Burjek, Directrix members Berk Ergoz, Hamza Jilani, Maatkara Wilson and Arjun Singh, as well as composer Magnus Fiennes, and songwriter-producer Michael Mell.

• All except Kogon sued AI music generators Suno and Udio over their AI training practices last October.

• As per Digital Music News, the artists want a federal jury to rule on damages relating to violations such as copyright infringement, fraud and deceptive practices, illegal distribution, false endorsement, and false advertising.