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The music company representing award-winning artist Jorja Smith has declared its desire to receive a portion of royalties from a track it claims was created using an AI "clone" of the performer's distinctive voice.

The song, titled 'I Run' by British dance act Haven, achieved widespread popularity on social media last October, partly due to its smooth soul singing by an unnamed female singer.

Despite its success and potential chart entry in both UK and US, the track was subsequently banned by major streaming platforms after industry bodies issued takedown notices, stating it breached copyright by imitating another artist.

Even though 'I Run' has now been re-released with different singing, Smith's label, FAMM, maintains it is convinced the initial recording was made with AI programmed on her extensive recordings and is now seeking appropriate redress.

A Broader Principle at Stake

"The situation is not only about one artist. It's bigger than a single performer or a single track," the label wrote in a public announcement.

FAMM further stated its view that "each versions of the track violate the artist's legal rights and unjustly take advantage of the work of all the songwriters with whom she collaborates."

Known for songs like 'Be Honest' and 'Little Things', Smith was named Best British Female at the prestigious Brit Awards in 2019.

Implying that her fans were potentially misled by Haven's original track, the label concluded: "We cannot permit this to become the standard practice."

Creators Admit Employing AI Tools

The team behind the song have openly admitted using AI in its creation.

Songwriter Harrison Walker explained that the initial voice were in fact his own but were heavily altered using AI music software Suno, often called the "advanced tool for music".

Meanwhile, the other member, Waypoint, whose real name is Jacob Donaghue, confirmed on his accounts that AI was used to "give our original vocal a female quality".

Donaghue and Walker assert that they composed and created the music themselves and have even provided files of their source production sessions.

"This is no mystery that I used AI-powered vocal processing to transform exclusively my voice for 'I Run'," Walker elaborated.

"Being a songwriter and producer, I like experimenting with new tools, methods and staying on the cutting edge of industry trends," he continued.

"In order to set the record straight, the people behind HAVEN are real and human, and all we want to do is make great music for other humans."

Legal Uncertainty and Broader Implications

Although their first version of 'I Run' was suspended from major charts, the replacement version did enter the UK Top 40 recently.

FAMM has framed the incident as a critical test case for the music industry's changing relationship with AI.

The label argued it had "a duty to voice concerns" and "encourage public discourse", because AI is proliferating at an "rapid rate and significantly outpacing regulation".

"AI-generated content should be transparently identified as such so that the audience may choose whether they consume it or not," the statement continued.

Artists as 'Unintended Damage'

Smith shared her label's position on her personal Instagram profile.

The text cautioned that artists and creators were turning into "collateral damage in the competition by governments and corporations towards AI dominance".

It further noted that the label would distribute any potential songwriting credits with the writers behind Smith's catalogue.

"If we are successful in establishing that AI assisted to write the words and melody in 'I Run' and are granted a share of the song, we would aim to assign each of Jorja's collaborators with a corresponding share," it explained.

The Continuing Rise of AI Music

The emergence of AI-generated music has been a source of both interest and anxiety for the entertainment world.

• In June, the group Velvet Sundown gathered millions of streams before revealing they used AI to aid develop their musical style.
• Recently, an AI-generated "artist" known as Breaking Rust led a US country sales chart, showing that audiences are not necessarily averse to hearing AI-made music.
• Suno was previously taken to court for copyright infringement by the industry's major biggest record labels, though those legal actions have since been settled.

Subsequently, Warner Music entered into a partnership with the firm, which will enable users to generate songs using the voices, names, and images of Warner acts who agree to the service.

Yet, it remains unclear how many well-known artists will agree to such uses of their identity.

Just last week, a collective of renowned artists such as Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush released a vinyl album featuring tracks of silence or audio of empty studios in protest to proposed revisions to copyright law.

They contend these changes would make it easier for AI companies to develop systems using protected work without securing a license.