Two companies that control rights in Eminem’s music are suing Suno over how it built its AI song generator. Eight Mile Style and Martin Affiliated filed their complaint on Nov. 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. They allege Suno copied 269 compositions without permission to train its models and that the service generated music drawing on protected works.

The filing identifies songs including “Lose Yourself,” “Without Me” and “Stan.” The plaintiffs are the companies that control rights in the compositions. Eminem is unnamed as a plaintiff. Suno told Reuters on Nov. 9 that its service is intended to help users create original music and that it prohibits unauthorized use of artists’ work.

The publishers want an accounting of the training data

On page 35 of the complaint, the plaintiffs ask Suno to account for training data, scraping and datasets involving their works. They also ask the court to order the impoundment or destruction of allegedly unauthorized copies, including copies they contend are retained in model weights. The complaint seeks up to $40.35 million in statutory damages for alleged willful copyright infringement as an alternative to actual damages and profits. That figure is a request by the plaintiffs. The court has yet to rule on the allegations.

A separate lawsuit raises questions about AI voices

Elvis Presley Enterprises and other rights holders filed a separate complaint against Suno in the same court on Nov. 6. The Presley case also invokes Tennessee’s ELVIS Act over alleged use of Presley’s voice and likeness. These California filings add to the disputes Bright Light previously covered involving Warner, Sony and Universal.

Sources include the Eight Mile Style and Martin Affiliated complaint, the Elvis Presley Enterprises complaint and Reuters’ Nov. 9 reporting.