Will AI-Generated Songs Be Legalized? Google and Universal Discuss AI Music Copyright

Google and Universal Music are reportedly discussing a plan to license songs created by artificial intelligence (AI).

British media outlets, including The Times, reported on the 8th (local time) that Google and Universal Music are discussing ways to legally create music using AI and pay royalties to the rightful owners of the copyrights.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Although the discussions are still in the early stages, the goal is to develop legitimate AI song creation tools. Artists are said to have the option to decide whether or not to participate. Warner Music is also reportedly engaged in similar talks with Google.

Recently, the music industry has been embroiled in copyright controversies over songs written and composed by AI. This is because generative AI has been rapidly producing fake songs that imitate artists' voices, lyrics, and music. Since many of these are created without the artists' consent, famous artists are concerned that they could suffer damages from these fake songs.

In April, a song called "Heart on My Sleeve," which gained attention on social media as a new release by famous singer-songwriter The Weeknd and hip-hop star Drake, was revealed to be a fake song convincingly synthesized as an "AI version" of The Weeknd's and Drake's voices. Universal Music, the record label for both singers, requested the removal of the song from platforms such as TikTok, Spotify, and YouTube, and issued a statement criticizing, "The use of our artists' music for training generative AI constitutes a violation of copyright law."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.