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The music company representing award-winning artist Jorja Smith has declared its intention to claim a share of royalties from a track it asserts was created using an artificial intelligence "replica" of the singer's unique voice.

The track, titled 'I Run' by UK electronic duo Haven, achieved massive traction on social media last October, partly due to its polished R&B vocals by an unnamed female singer.

Despite its success and impending chart position in the UK and US, the track was subsequently banned by leading music services after industry bodies sent copyright requests, stating it breached intellectual property law by impersonating another artist.

Although 'I Run' has since been reissued with completely new singing, Smith's label, FAMM, maintains it is convinced the original recording was made with AI trained on her body of work and is now seeking appropriate redress.

A Larger Principle in Play

"This 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 also expressed its view that "each versions of the song infringe on the artist's rights and unfairly take advantage of the work of all the songwriters with whom she collaborates."

Famous for hits 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 release, the label added: "We must not permit this to become the new normal."

Creators Admit Using AI Technology

The team responsible for the song have openly admitted utilizing AI during its production process.

Producer Harrison Walker explained that the initial vocals were actually his own but were extensively manipulated using music-generation software Suno, sometimes referred to as the "ChatGPT for music".

Meanwhile, the second producer, Waypoint, whose real name is Jacob Donaghue, confirmed on his accounts that AI was used to "give our starting vocal a feminine tone".

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

"It is no mystery that I used AI-powered vocal editing to transform solely my voice for 'I Run'," Walker elaborated.

"As a songwriter and producer, I enjoy using new tools, methods and staying on the forefront of what's happening," he added.

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

Regulatory Uncertainty and Broader Implications

While their first version of 'I Run' was suspended from official charts, the new recording managed to enter the UK Top 40 recently.

FAMM has positioned the entire episode as a critical test case for the entertainment sector's evolving interaction with artificial intelligence.

The label stated it had "a duty to speak up" and "stimulate wider discussion", because AI is advancing at an "alarming rate and significantly outpacing regulation".

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

Creators Become 'Unintended Victims'

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

The text cautioned that artists and songwriters were becoming "unintended casualties in the competition by policymakers and tech firms towards AI dominance".

It also stated that the label would distribute any awarded royalties with the writers behind Smith's catalogue.

"If we are successful in establishing that AI helped to write the lyrics and melody in 'I Run' and are granted a portion of the song, we would seek to allocate each of Jorja's collaborators with a pro-rata share," it detailed.

The Continuing Rise of AI Music

The emergence of algorithmically created music has been a source of both fascination and consternation for the entertainment world.

• In June, the band Velvet Sundown gathered millions of plays before revealing they used AI to help craft their musical style.
• Recently, an AI-generated "performer" called Breaking Rust led a US genre sales chart, demonstrating that audiences are not always averse to hearing AI-made music.
• Suno was previously sued for alleged violations by the world's three largest record labels, though those legal actions have now been resolved.

Following this, Warner Music established a collaboration with the company, which will allow users to generate songs using the vocal likenesses, names, and likenesses of Warner artists who opt in to the service.

However, it remains uncertain how a large number of well-known musicians will agree to such applications of their identity.

Just last week, a collective of renowned artists such as Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush issued a vinyl album featuring silent songs or recordings of quiet studios in protest to proposed revisions to intellectual property regulations.

They argue these changes would make it simpler for AI companies to develop models using copyrighted work without securing a permission.