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The record label representing Brit Award-winning singer Jorja Smith has declared its desire to claim a portion of royalties from a song it asserts was produced using an AI "clone" of the performer's unique voice.

The song, titled 'I Run' by UK electronic duo Haven, gained massive popularity on social media last October, partly due to its polished R&B vocals by an unnamed woman vocalist.

Despite its momentum and potential chart position in the UK and US, the song was later banned by leading music services after industry organizations sent takedown notices, stating it breached intellectual property law by imitating another artist.

Although 'I Run' has since been reissued with completely new vocals, Smith's label, FAMM, maintains it is convinced the initial version was made with AI trained on her body of work and is now pursuing financial compensation.

A Broader Issue in Play

"This is not only about one artist. This is larger than a single performer or a single track," the label wrote in a public announcement.

FAMM further expressed its belief that "each iterations of the track infringe on the artist's legal rights and unfairly benefit from the work of all the songwriters with whom she works."

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

Suggesting that her fans were possibly deceived by Haven's first release, the label concluded: "Our industry must not permit this to become the standard practice."

Creators Admit Using AI Technology

The team responsible for the track have publicly confirmed using AI in its creation.

Producer Harrison Walker explained that the original vocals were in fact his own but were extensively manipulated using music-generation platform Suno, often referred to as the "ChatGPT for music".

Meanwhile, the second producer, Waypoint, whose real name is Jacob Donaghue, stated on social media that AI was used to "apply our starting vocal a female quality".

Donaghue and Walker maintain that they wrote and created the song themselves and have even shared files of their source production sessions.

"This shouldn't be secret that I used AI-powered vocal processing to transform exclusively my voice for 'I Run'," Walker elaborated.

"Being a songwriter and producer, I enjoy using innovative technologies, methods and staying on the forefront of industry trends," he added.

"To set the record clear, the artists behind HAVEN are actual and people, and all we aim to do is make enjoyable music for fellow humans."

Legal Uncertainty and Broader Implications

While their first version of 'I Run' was suspended from major charts, the replacement recording did enter the UK Top 40 last week.

FAMM has framed the entire episode as a critical test case for the entertainment sector's changing relationship with artificial intelligence.

The label argued it had "an obligation to voice concerns" and "stimulate public discourse", because AI is proliferating at an "rapid rate and significantly outpacing legal oversight".

"Computer-created material should be transparently identified as such so that the public may decide whether they consume it or not," the message continued.

Artists as 'Collateral Damage'

Smith endorsed her label's statement on her personal social media page.

The post warned that musicians and creators were becoming "collateral damage in the race by policymakers and tech firms towards AI dominance".

It further stated that the label would share any awarded songwriting credits with the collaborators behind Smith's catalogue.

"Should we are successful in proving that AI assisted to write the lyrics and melody in 'I Run' and are awarded a share of the song, we would seek to assign each of Jorja's collaborators with a pro-rata share," it detailed.

The Continuing Rise of AI Music

The proliferation of AI-generated music has been a topic of both interest and consternation for the entertainment world.

• In June, the group Velvet Sundown accumulated vast numbers of streams before revealing they used AI to aid develop their sound.
• Last month, an AI-generated "artist" known as Breaking Rust topped a US genre digital song sales chart, showing that listeners are not always averse to hearing computer-generated music.
• Suno was last year sued for alleged violations by the world's three biggest record labels, though those legal actions have since been resolved.

Subsequently, Warner Music entered into a collaboration with the firm, which will allow users to generate songs using the voices, names, and images of Warner artists who agree to the program.

Yet, it is unclear how many established artists will agree to such uses of their identity.

Just last week, a group of renowned artists including Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush released a vinyl album featuring silent songs or recordings of quiet studios in protest to potential revisions to intellectual property regulations.

They contend these amendments would make it simpler for AI companies to train models using copyrighted work without obtaining a permission.