Suno faces new Elvis Presley and Eminem copyright lawsuits

Two new lawsuits widen Suno's copyright fight

Two new copyright lawsuits against Suno accuse the AI music generator of using Elvis Presley's and Eminem's likeness without permission, extending a dispute that major music companies have pursued through litigation and licensing.

The Presley case was filed by a group that owns the rights to Presley's music. A second suit came from Eight Mile Style, a music publishing company that owns hundreds of Eminem recordings. Both plaintiffs filed separate lawsuits against Suno.

Variety first reported the lawsuits. The plaintiffs offered examples of songs created through Suno's AI music generator that allegedly sound like Presley or mimic Eminem's lyrics.

The cases add artist-specific allegations to a wider set of disputes over Suno. Earlier this year, Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group jointly sued the company, claiming that its latest v6 models continue to infringe copyrighted material.

The music industry's response is not uniform. Last year, Warner Music Group dropped its lawsuit against Suno and instead agreed to a licensing deal. The new plaintiffs have chosen court.

What do the new lawsuits allege?

The Presley plaintiff group says Suno generated songs that sound like Presley. Eight Mile Style says Suno-generated songs mimic Eminem's lyrics. The examples came from songs produced through Suno's music generator, according to Variety.

According to Variety, attorneys representing the plaintiffs in both cases said Suno's actions "make human creativity obsolete, coldly replicating without a license in seconds what takes years to learn, struggle with, maintain, and endlessly attempt to make better and perfect."

The quote frames speed as part of the alleged harm. The plaintiffs' position is that Suno can replicate recognizable creative work without a license, while Suno says its controls are designed to prevent unauthorized use of artists and their work.

The allegations remain framed as imitation. The Presley examples allegedly sound like Presley; the Eminem examples allegedly mimic Eminem's lyrics. The source does not describe either suit as targeting a particular commercial release, and it reports no ruling on either claim.

The new cases differ in the artist and the feature at issue. One concerns songs that allegedly sound like Presley; the other concerns lyrics that allegedly mimic Eminem. Both rely on unlicensed resemblance as the basis of the copyright claim.

How does Suno answer?

Suno said in a statement to Variety that it does not allow "any unauthorized use of an artist's work." The wording presents unlicensed use as something the service blocks rather than an intended use.

The company also said it prohibits using "specific artists' names and songs." Those restrictions address direct references to Presley and Eminem, the artists named in the new cases. Suno did not provide more detail in the statement reported by Variety.

Suno added that it works with third-party companies to screen for "potential misuse." Its response therefore combines a stated prohibition on unauthorized artist use with outside screening for possible violations.

That defense sits against the plaintiffs' concrete examples. Their lawyers said the system can replicate creative work without a license. Suno, in turn, says its service does not permit that use.

The account leaves the scope of those controls unstated. It does not identify the screening companies, say whether any cited song passed review, or quote Suno on the specific examples. The disagreement is therefore between a general policy and particular outputs that the plaintiffs say violate their rights.

Why are music companies pursuing different strategies?

The Presley rights group is not limiting its AI litigation to Suno. It recently sued Anthropic for $41 million in damages, alleging that Anthropic trained its AI models on Presley's works without permission. That claim targets model training; the new Suno cases concern songs offered through a music generator.

The $41 million demand provides the clearest monetary figure in the source. The same rights holder is now pressing claims involving two AI companies and two different uses of Presley's work: alleged unauthorized training in one case and alleged artist imitation in the other.

For Suno, the older and newer cases overlap. Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group say its latest v6 models still infringe copyrighted material. The Presley and Eminem plaintiffs say the generator produces recognizable artist-style output without a license.

Warner Music Group chose a different path last year. It dropped its lawsuit against Suno and agreed to a licensing deal. One major label now has a licensing agreement while other rights holders continue to press their claims in court.

Eight Mile Style's position also differs from that of a record label. The company is a music publisher that owns hundreds of Eminem recordings, according to the source, and its suit focuses on songs that mimic Eminem's lyrics. The Presley group likewise owns the rights to Presley's music.

Taken together, the disputes place Suno between competing approaches. It has a licensing agreement with Warner, a joint lawsuit from Sony and Universal, and two new suits tied to Presley and Eminem. A separate $41 million claim over Presley's works names Anthropic, not Suno, but comes from the same plaintiff group.

What happens next?

No settlement with the Presley or Eminem rights holders is reported, and no court has decided the new allegations. The immediate contest is not whether Suno can generate music; it is whether the company's stated controls match the output the plaintiffs identify as unauthorized imitation.

The plaintiffs' lawyers supplied the sharpest description of what they say the technology enables: Suno can make human creativity obsolete by replicating unlicensed work in seconds. Suno's answer rests on product controls: it says the platform bars unauthorized artist use, blocks specific names and songs, and uses outside companies to screen for misuse.

The next test for Suno is whether its stated artist filters and third-party screening can answer the Presley and Eminem examples. The wider dispute remains split: Warner Music Group has a licensing deal, Sony and Universal are pursuing claims, and the Presley rights group is pressing a $41 million claim against Anthropic as well.