Suno has moved to dismiss the federal lawsuit brought in August by Jason Isbell and other musicians. Variety reported that its first response, filed on November 3, contests claims that generating music associated with artists' identities violates state publicity laws.
Identity claims distinguish this dispute
Isbell joined David Lowery, Guy Forsyth and Eduardo Calle in seeking class-action treatment. Their complaint focuses on artists' identities and performance characteristics rather than solely on copyright in musical works.
The plaintiffs allege that Suno retains voiceprints and that users can bypass restrictions to obtain associated sounds. Suno denies those allegations.
The distinction matters to the parties' arguments because the musicians maintain that identity rights remain relevant separately from agreements over catalogues and AI training.
Company argues names describe musical styles
Suno lawyer Andrew Gass argued that people commonly use artists' names as shorthand for genres or stylistic qualities. He compared prompts to a musician asking a producer for a particular influence in a recording studio.
The company also argues that the plaintiffs' proposed approach would conflict with federal intellectual-property rules concerning artistic style. It invokes the First Amendment in defending the use of names to describe music.
The complaint describes alleged ways around restrictions, including using real names instead of stage names or adding spaces between the letters of an artist's name. Common and Taylor Swift feature in those examples, which form part of the allegations Suno denies.
The musicians also maintain that identity rights generally remain with artists regardless of settlement agreements or consent to train on their catalogues. That contention underpins their decision to focus this case on identity rather than copyright alone.