[Video] Elvis Presley Rights Owners Sue AI Music Maker Suno Over Voice Cloning Under Tennessee's ELVIS Act
Elvis Presley's music rights owners have sued the artificial-intelligence music generator Suno in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accusing it of letting users clone the King's voice to make new songs, Billboard and Variety reported on November 7. The 51-page complaint was filed on November 6.
The plaintiffs include Elvis Presley Enterprises, a unit of Authentic Brands Group, Raleigh Music Publishing and other rights holders. The complaint says Suno trained its models on Presley's recordings without a license — naming tracks including "Can't Help Falling in Love," "Don't Be Cruel," "All Shook Up" and "Return to Sender" — and exploits his identity whenever users cite his name to generate songs. The plaintiffs say Presley's identity "was stolen."
The case is one of the first major tests of Tennessee's ELVIS Act, the 2024 Ensuring Likeness, Voice and Image Security Act, which made a person's voice — real or simulated — a protected right. Attorneys for the plaintiffs, led by Richard Busch, argue in the filing that Suno has "mechanically encoded itself with artists' identities, hard work, creativity and time," and harnessed them for "a consistent conveyor belt of cold hard cash."
The same day, Eight Mile Style, the publisher controlling hundreds of Eminem recordings, filed its own suit against Suno in the same court, alleging users can generate songs and lyrics mirroring the rapper's tracks. Eminem is not personally participating in that suit. The same legal team represents both plaintiff groups.
Suno has not yet filed a response in court. In a separate musicians' lawsuit, the company has denied similar allegations, saying there is nothing unlawful about asking for a song in the vein of an artist. No ruling has been made in the Presley case.
"Can't Help Falling in Love," one of the recordings named in the complaint, can be heard in the official version published by Presley's official channel.
(Source: Billboard)
Source: Billboard
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Photo: 图：位于田纳西州孟菲斯的猫王故居Graceland。Maha摄，CC BY 2.5，经Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Graceland, Elvis Presley's home in Memphis, Tennessee. Photo by Maha, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.
