The AI generated song ‘I Run’, created by dance act Haven, has become embroiled in controversy after allegedly using prompts to create vocals similar to that of prominent artist Jorja Smith’s. The track was written and performed by Haven, who then imposed an AI generated version of a woman’s vocals onto the recording.
Smith’s label, FAMM UK, have since posted on social media to rebuke the track, claiming that Haven had misrepresented it as having been performed by Smith herself, with Haven making social media posts connecting the track to Smith as well as purporting that the track was an unreleased song from Smith. Tensions broiled further, with Haven requesting that Smith collaborate on the track in order to ‘legitimise’ it. FAMM UK also allege that Haven used AI to compose the lyrics and the melody itself for the track using Smith’s discography.
This recent development in the music industry has the potential to become a landmark copyright claim, as a judgment could set a ground-breaking precedent for works protected by copyright being used for AI training and outputs, and whether artists’ vocals can qualify as a copyright work.
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