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The music company representing Brit Award-winning singer Jorja Smith has declared its intention to claim a portion of royalties from a song it claims was produced using an artificial intelligence "clone" of the performer's unique voice.

The track, titled 'I Run' by British electronic duo Haven, gained widespread popularity on TikTok in October, in part due to its smooth soul singing by an uncredited woman vocalist.

Although its momentum and potential chart entry in the UK and US, the track was later removed by leading music services after industry organizations issued copyright notices, stating it violated intellectual property law by impersonating another musician.

Although 'I Run' has since been reissued with completely new singing, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it believes the initial version was made with AI programmed on her extensive recordings and is now pursuing financial redress.

A Larger Principle at Stake

"The situation isn't just about Jorja. This is bigger than one artist or a single track," the label wrote in a public statement.

FAMM also stated its view that "both iterations of the track infringe on Jorja's legal rights and unjustly benefit from the creative output of all the songwriters with whom she works."

Known for songs 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 misled by Haven's original release, the label concluded: "We cannot allow this to become the standard practice."

Creators Admit Employing AI Technology

The duo behind the track have openly admitted utilizing AI during its creation.

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

In addition, the other producer, Waypoint, whose real name is Jacob Donaghue, confirmed 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 shared evidence of their original computer files.

"This shouldn't be mystery that I used AI-powered vocal editing to transform solely my voice for 'I Run'," Walker said.

"Being a songwriter and producer, I enjoy experimenting with innovative technologies, methods and remaining on the forefront of what's happening," he continued.

"To set the facts straight, the people behind HAVEN are actual and people, and all we want to do is make great music for other humans."

Regulatory Uncertainty and Broader Implications

While their original release of 'I Run' was blocked from major rankings, the replacement version did break into the UK Top 40 last week.

FAMM has positioned the incident as a critical test case for the music industry's changing interaction with AI.

The label stated it had "an obligation to voice concerns" and "encourage public discourse", because AI is proliferating at an "rapid rate and substantially exceeding regulation".

"AI-generated material should be clearly labelled as such so that the audience may choose whether they consume it or not," the statement continued.

Artists as 'Collateral Victims'

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

The post warned that musicians and songwriters were becoming "collateral damage in the race by policymakers and tech firms towards AI supremacy".

It further noted that the label would distribute any potential royalties with the collaborators behind Smith's catalogue.

"Should we are able in establishing that AI helped to write the lyrics and tune in 'I Run' and are awarded a portion of the song, we would seek to assign every one of Jorja's co-writers with a corresponding share," it detailed.

The Continuing Rise of AI Music

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

• In the summer, the band Velvet Sundown accumulated millions of plays before revealing they used AI to help craft their musical style.
• Last month, an AI-generated "artist" known as Breaking Rust led a US genre sales chart, showing that audiences are not necessarily averse to hearing computer-generated music.
• Suno was last year taken to court for alleged violations by the world's three largest record labels, but those cases have now been resolved.

Subsequently, Warner Music established a partnership with the firm, which will allow users to create songs using the voices, names, and likenesses of Warner artists who opt in to the program.

Yet, it is unclear how many established musicians will consent to such uses of their work.

Recently, a collective of prominent musicians 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 changes to copyright law.

They argue these changes would make it simpler for AI companies to train systems using protected work without securing a license.