A United States federal court in Massachusetts has declined to dismiss most of the copyright and Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) claims brought by independent country musician and truck driver Tony Justice against artificial intelligence (AI) music company Suno.
The ruling by Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts allows the core of the lawsuit filed by Justice and his label 5th Wheel Records Inc. to move forward. The court dismissed only one count, a claim under the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act.
The suit alleges copyright infringement through AI-generated songs trained on protected songs from artists like Justice, as well as violations of the DMCA. In November, Suno renewed its effort to dismiss most of the claims raised by a group of artists that includes Justice. The company argued that the court should focus on whether training AI models on copyrighted music qualifies as fair use, and it asked for certain allegations to be removed from the proceedings.
Justice’s response#
Justice said the case is about protecting working musicians.
“We have tech and corporate America coming in and trampling on the little guy,” said Tony Justice. “Anytime I’m in a position to use my voice to fight for the little guy, I feel like I need to do that.”
“This is how we live. This is how we support our families,” Justice said of musicians like himself, who have watched their income from streaming platforms dwindle with the rise of AI-generated music. “We’ve gotta fight for it. There’s too many times you hear [people complaining], but when it comes time to do something about it, everybody goes quiet. […] People need to put in an effort doing something about it and standing up.”
Trucking and AI#
Justice, a full-time truck driver, also speaks for truckers in the debate over AI fairness, though not in a legal capacity. He said the professional driving industry faces similar concerns about AI encroaching on jobs, and that real driving hours of professional drivers have been used to train AI models that power modern autonomous vehicles.
