“The latest example of unethical AI firms stealing the livelihood of lyricists, songwriters and composers”: The Ivors Academy wants Suno to remove its ReMi lyrics generatorThe Ivors Academy – one of Europe’s largest professional associations for music writers and composers – has issued a strong warning to Suno, the company behind AI-powered music generator Suno AI.
Since launching in late 2023, Suno has been in the firing line of a number of industry figures and bodies. In June last year, the big three record labels – Sony, Universal and Warner – filed lawsuits against the company alleging “unimaginable scales” of copyright infringement. Suno later claimed that using copyrighted material to train its AI model constituted fair use.

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Now, the Ivors Academy is requesting that Suno take down its ReMi lyrics generator, following concerns it sometimes regurgitates lyrics of existing and copyrighted songs.
MusicRadar reports that in one instance, entering the prompts ‘1980s Australian pop song’, ‘male vocals’, ‘about paying dues to the native people’ and ‘in the style of Midnight Oil’ generated the “entire lyrics” to Midnight Oil’s Beds Are Burning.
“Suno’s new tool is the latest example of unethical AI firms stealing the work, art and livelihood of lyricists, songwriters and composers,” says Roberto Neri, CEO of the Ivors Academy.
“AI firms must not use the lyrics, compositions or melodies of our members without first getting their permission and paying them fairly for the use of their copyright-protected music”.
He goes on: “If AI companies continue to train their models on our members’ music we will call on the UK government to strengthen copyright law to clarify that creators have ultimate control over how their works are used and monetised.”
Such a threat may prove an uphill battle for Ivors, though; last year it was revealed that the UK government was considering plans to allow tech companies to train AI on copyrighted content.
MP Chris Bryant insisted it would be a “win win” for both creatives and tech firms. “This is about giving greater control in a difficult and complex set of circumstances to creators and rights holders,” Bryant told The Guardian. “We intend it to lead to more licensing of content, which is potentially a new revenue stream for creators.”
MusicTech has reached out to both Suno and the Ivors Academy for comment.
The post “The latest example of unethical AI firms stealing the livelihood of lyricists, songwriters and composers”: The Ivors Academy wants Suno to remove its ReMi lyrics generator appeared first on MusicTech.