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The music company representing award-winning singer Jorja Smith has stated its desire to claim a portion of royalties from a song it asserts was produced using an AI "replica" of the performer's unique voice.

The song, titled 'I Run' by UK electronic duo Haven, gained widespread traction on TikTok last October, in part due to its polished R&B vocals by an unnamed female vocalist.

Despite its momentum and potential chart position in both UK and US, the song was later banned by major streaming platforms after industry organizations sent copyright notices, stating it breached copyright by impersonating another musician.

Although 'I Run' has now been reissued with different vocals, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it is convinced the initial recording was generated with AI trained on her extensive recordings and is now seeking appropriate redress.

A Larger Principle at Stake

"The situation isn't just about one artist. It's bigger than one artist or a single track," the label wrote in a recent announcement.

FAMM also stated its belief that "both versions of the song infringe on Jorja's rights and unfairly benefit from the work of all the writers with whom she works."

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

Suggesting that her fans were possibly deceived by Haven's first track, the label added: "We cannot permit this to be the standard practice."

Producers Acknowledge Using AI Technology

The duo responsible for the track have publicly confirmed utilizing AI in its creation.

Songwriter Harrison Walker clarified that the initial vocals were in fact his own but were extensively altered using music-generation platform Suno, often referred to as the "advanced tool for music".

Meanwhile, the second member, Waypoint, identified as Jacob Donaghue, stated on social media that AI was used to "apply our starting vocal a feminine tone".

Donaghue and Walker maintain that they composed and created the song themselves and have even shared evidence of their original production sessions.

"It is no secret that I used AI-assisted vocal processing to transform exclusively my voice for 'I Run'," Walker said.

"Being a creator and producer, I enjoy experimenting with new tools, methods and remaining on the forefront of what's happening," he added.

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

Regulatory Uncertainty and Broader Impact

Although their first version of 'I Run' was suspended from major rankings, the new version did break into the UK Top 40 last week.

FAMM has framed the incident as a significant test case for the entertainment sector's changing relationship with artificial intelligence.

The label stated it had "an obligation to speak up" and "encourage wider discussion", because AI is advancing at an "alarming rate and substantially exceeding legal oversight".

"Computer-created content should be clearly identified as such so that the public may decide whether they consume it or not," the statement added.

Creators Become 'Unintended Victims'

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

The post warned that musicians and creators were turning into "collateral damage in the race by governments and tech firms towards AI supremacy".

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

"Should we are successful in establishing that AI assisted to write the lyrics and tune in 'I Run' and are granted a share of the song, we would aim to allocate each of Jorja's collaborators with a pro-rata share," it detailed.

The Continuing Rise of Computer-Generated Music

The proliferation of AI-generated music has been a topic of both fascination and consternation for the music industry.

• In June, the group Velvet Sundown accumulated vast numbers of plays before disclosing they used AI to help develop their sound.
• Recently, an AI-generated "artist" called Breaking Rust led a US country sales chart, showing that audiences are not necessarily opposed to consuming computer-generated music.
• Suno was last year sued for copyright infringement by the industry's three largest record labels, but those cases have now been settled.

Subsequently, Warner Music entered into a collaboration with the company, which will enable users to create songs using the vocal likenesses, names, and images of Warner acts who agree to the program.

However, it is unclear how a large number of established musicians will agree to such uses of their work.

Recently, a group of renowned artists such as Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush released a vinyl album containing tracks of silence or recordings of quiet studios in protest to potential revisions to intellectual property regulations.

They argue these changes would make it easier for AI companies to develop systems using copyrighted work without securing a license.