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The music company representing award-winning artist Jorja Smith has declared its desire to claim a portion of earnings from a song it asserts was created using an AI "clone" of the performer's distinctive voice.

The track, titled 'I Run' by UK electronic duo Haven, gained massive traction on social media last October, partly due to its polished soul vocals by an uncredited woman singer.

Although its success and potential top 40 entry in both UK and US, the track was later removed by leading streaming platforms after industry bodies issued takedown requests, stating it violated intellectual property law by imitating another artist.

Even though 'I Run' has now been reissued with completely new vocals, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it believes the original recording was made with AI programmed on her body of work and is now pursuing appropriate compensation.

A Larger Issue at Stake

"This is not only about one artist. This is bigger than one artist or one song," the label wrote in a recent statement.

FAMM further expressed its belief that "each versions of the track infringe on Jorja's legal rights and unfairly benefit from the work of all the songwriters with whom she collaborates."

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

Implying that her supporters were possibly deceived by Haven's first track, the label concluded: "We cannot allow this to become the new normal."

Producers Acknowledge Using AI Technology

The duo responsible for the track have openly confirmed using AI in its production process.

Songwriter Harrison Walker explained that the original voice were in fact his own but were heavily altered using music-generation platform Suno, sometimes called the "advanced tool for music".

In addition, the other producer, Waypoint, whose real name is Jacob Donaghue, stated on social media that AI was used to "give our original vocal a feminine tone".

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

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

"Being a creator and maker, I like using new tools, techniques and staying on the forefront of what's happening," he added.

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

Legal Gray Areas and Broader Impact

While their original version of 'I Run' was blocked from major rankings, the new version did enter the UK Top 40 last week.

FAMM has positioned the incident as a significant precedent for the entertainment sector's changing interaction with artificial intelligence.

The label stated it had "an obligation to speak up" and "encourage public discourse", because AI is advancing at an "rapid rate and significantly exceeding regulation".

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

Artists as 'Unintended Victims'

Smith shared her label's statement on her personal social media page.

The text warned that musicians and creators were turning into "unintended casualties in the competition by governments and corporations towards AI dominance".

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

"Should we are successful in proving that AI assisted to write the words and melody in 'I Run' and are awarded a share of the song, we would seek to allocate each of Jorja's co-writers with a pro-rata share," it detailed.

The Ongoing Growth of AI Music

The emergence of AI-generated music has been a source of both fascination and anxiety for the entertainment world.

• In June, the band Velvet Sundown gathered millions of streams before revealing they used AI to help develop their sound.
• Last month, an AI-generated "performer" known as Breaking Rust topped a US genre sales chart, showing that listeners are not always opposed to hearing 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 firm, which will enable users to generate songs using the voices, names, and images of Warner artists who opt in to the service.

Yet, it remains unclear how many established artists will agree to such uses of their work.

Just last week, a group of prominent artists such as Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush issued a vinyl album containing tracks of silence or audio of empty studios in opposition to potential revisions to copyright law.

They contend these changes would make it easier for AI companies to develop models using protected work without securing a license.