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The record label representing award-winning artist Jorja Smith has declared its intention to claim a share of royalties from a song it claims was produced using an AI "replica" of the singer's distinctive vocal style.

The track, titled 'I Run' by British electronic duo Haven, achieved massive traction on social media last October, partly due to its polished R&B vocals by an unnamed woman singer.

Despite its momentum and impending chart entry in the UK and US, the song was later removed by leading music services after music organizations issued takedown notices, stating it breached copyright by impersonating another musician.

Although 'I Run' has since been reissued with completely new singing, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it is convinced the initial version was generated with AI programmed on her body of recordings and is now seeking appropriate redress.

A Larger Principle at Stake

"The situation isn't just about one artist. It's larger than one artist or a single track," the label wrote in a public statement.

FAMM also stated its view that "both iterations of the song violate Jorja's rights and unjustly benefit from the work of all the writers with whom she works."

Known for hits like 'Be Honest' and 'Little Things', Smith was named Best British Female at the prestigious Brit Awards in 2019.

Implying that her fans were possibly deceived by Haven's original release, the label concluded: "Our industry cannot allow this to be the new normal."

Producers Acknowledge Employing AI Technology

The team responsible for the song have publicly confirmed utilizing AI during its creation.

Songwriter Harrison Walker explained that the original vocals were actually his own but were heavily altered using music-generation software Suno, often referred to as the "ChatGPT for music".

Meanwhile, the other producer, Waypoint, whose real name is Jacob Donaghue, stated on social media that AI was used to "apply our starting vocal a female tone".

Donaghue and Walker maintain that they wrote and produced the song themselves and have even provided files of their original computer files.

"It is no mystery that I used AI-assisted vocal processing to convert solely my voice for 'I Run'," Walker said.

"As a creator and maker, I enjoy experimenting with new tools, methods and remaining on the forefront of industry trends," he continued.

"To set the facts straight, the artists behind HAVEN are real and human, and all we want to do is make great music for fellow humans."

Regulatory Uncertainty and Industry Impact

While their original release of 'I Run' was blocked from official rankings, the replacement version managed to enter the UK Top 40 last week.

FAMM has positioned the entire episode as a critical precedent for the music industry's changing relationship with AI.

The label stated it had "an obligation to voice concerns" and "encourage wider discussion", because AI is proliferating at an "rapid rate and substantially outpacing legal oversight".

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

Artists as 'Collateral Victims'

Smith endorsed her label's position on her personal Instagram profile.

The post warned that artists and creators were becoming "unintended casualties in the competition by governments and corporations towards AI dominance".

It further noted that the label would share any awarded songwriting credits with the writers behind Smith's catalogue.

"If we are able in establishing that AI helped to write the words and melody in 'I Run' and are awarded a portion of the song, we would seek to assign each of Jorja's collaborators with a corresponding share," it explained.

The Ongoing Growth of AI Music

The proliferation of algorithmically created music has been a topic of both interest and consternation for the music industry.

• In June, the group Velvet Sundown gathered millions of plays before revealing they used AI to aid craft their sound.
• Last month, an AI-generated "performer" called Breaking Rust led a US genre digital song sales chart, showing that listeners are not always opposed to consuming AI-made music.
• Suno was last year sued for alleged violations by the industry's major largest record labels, though those cases have since been resolved.

Following this, Warner Music entered into a partnership with the company, which will allow users to generate songs using the vocal likenesses, names, and images of Warner acts who agree to the service.

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

Recently, a group of prominent artists including Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush released a vinyl album featuring silent songs or audio of empty studios in protest to potential revisions to copyright law.

They contend these amendments would make it easier for AI companies to train systems using protected work without securing a license.