03:22 PM EDT, 06/24/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with comments from Suno in the fourth and fifth paragraphs.)

Sony Group's ( SONY ) Sony Music, Warner Music Group's ( WMG ) Warner Records and Universal Music Group are seeking damages from artificial intelligence companies Suno and Udio over mass copyright infringement, Reuters reported Monday.

The lawsuits, seeking $150,000 in statutory damages per song that was copied, were filed against Udio and Suno in New York and Massachusetts, respectively, according to the report.

The artificial intelligence companies allegedly copied music without permission to train their systems for generating music that directly competes with the artists' work, the report added, citing federal lawsuits.

"Our technology is transformative; it is designed to generate completely new outputs, not to memorize and regurgitate pre-existing content," Suno Chief Executive Mikey Shulman said. "That is why we don't allow user prompts that reference specific artists."

"We would have been happy to explain this to the corporate record labels that filed this lawsuit (and in fact, we tried to do so), but instead of entertaining a good faith discussion, they have reverted to their old lawyer-led playbook," Shulman added.

Sony Music, Universal Music Group, Warner Records and Udio did not immediately respond to MT Newswires' requests for comment.

(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)

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