Elvis Presley rights holders sue Suno over alleged AI voice cloning

Elvis Presley Enterprises, Authentic Brands Group, Raleigh Music Publishing and other Presley rights holders have sued AI music generator Suno, alleging that it let users create songs in Presley’s voice and unlawfully exploited his identity. The 51-page complaint, filed Nov. 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, combines claims under Tennessee’s ELVIS Act with allegations of copyright infringement involving Presley recordings.

The suit says Suno enabled users to clone Presley’s “unmistakable and iconic voice” and generate tracks that mirror his rich vocal timbre without permission. It also alleges that Presley’s identity was stored on Suno’s servers and commercially exploited when users entered his name in prompts. The complaint includes links to examples which the rights holders say sound remarkably similar to Presley, and says an Elvis clone was generated as recently as October from lyrics containing his name.

Richard Busch, a lawyer for the Presley plaintiffs, called the examples “synthetic and unlicensed uses of Elvis’ voice and likeness” and said there were “hundreds to thousands more like it.” The complaint challenges Suno’s prior assertions that it blocks artists’ names in prompts and does not copy real voices, calling those statements “unequivocally false.”

It also alleges that Suno used copyrighted Presley songs to train its system, naming “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” “A Little Less Conversation,” “All Shook Up,” “Return to Sender” and “(You’re the) Devil in Disguise.” The claim is that the company used the works while seeking to replace human artists.

The case is among the first major tests of Tennessee’s Ensuring Likeness, Voice and Image Security Act, or ELVIS Act. Gov. Bill Lee signed the measure on March 21, 2024, and it took effect on July 1 that year. It amended Tennessee’s 1984 Personal Rights Protection Act to cover actual and simulated voices, alongside name, photograph and likeness.

The law gives individuals, estates and certain rights holders a basis to seek civil damages for unauthorized use of a protected voice, including against companies providing tools that enable such use. It also makes violations a Class A misdemeanor, while retaining exceptions for comment, criticism, scholarship, satire and parody, as well as copyright-preemption defenses.

Suno said it exists to help people create new, original music rather than trade on anyone’s name or likeness. The company said it prohibits unauthorized use of artists’ work and uses third-party providers to screen uploaded audio and lyrics for potential misuse. It had not filed a court response when the reports were published.

The new action follows the likeness suit filed by Jason Isbell and other musicians against Suno, as reported in September. Suno has also faced music-training litigation from major music companies: Warner Music Group settled its case, while disputes with Universal Music Group and Sony Music continued.

On the same day as the Presley filing, lawyers for the Presley plaintiffs filed a separate Suno copyright lawsuit for Eight Mile Style, the publisher of many Eminem recordings.