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

The track, titled 'I Run' by British dance act Haven, achieved massive traction on TikTok last October, partly due to its smooth R&B vocals by an unnamed woman singer.

Despite its success and impending chart entry in the UK and US, the track was later removed by leading music services after industry bodies sent copyright requests, stating it violated copyright by impersonating another musician.

Although 'I Run' has now been reissued with completely new singing, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it believes the original recording was made with AI programmed on her body of work and is now seeking financial redress.

A Broader Issue at Stake

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

FAMM further stated its view that "both iterations of the song infringe on the artist's rights and unjustly take advantage of the work of all the songwriters with whom she collaborates."

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

Implying that her fans were possibly misled by Haven's original release, the label concluded: "Our industry cannot permit this to be the standard practice."

Producers Admit Using AI Tools

The duo behind the track have publicly confirmed utilizing AI during its creation.

Producer Harrison Walker clarified that the initial voice were in fact his own but were heavily manipulated using AI music platform Suno, often referred to as the "ChatGPT for music".

In addition, the other member, Waypoint, identified as Jacob Donaghue, stated on his accounts that AI was used to "give our starting vocal a feminine tone".

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

"It shouldn't be secret that I used AI-assisted vocal processing to convert solely my voice for 'I Run'," Walker said.

"As a creator and maker, I like using innovative technologies, methods and staying on the cutting edge of industry trends," he continued.

"In order to set the facts straight, the people behind HAVEN are real and human, and all we want to do is make enjoyable music for fellow humans."

Legal Uncertainty and Broader Implications

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

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

The label argued it had "a duty to voice concerns" and "stimulate wider discussion", because AI is advancing at an "alarming rate and substantially outpacing legal oversight".

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

Creators Become 'Collateral Victims'

Smith endorsed her label's statement on her own Instagram profile.

The post cautioned that artists and songwriters were turning into "collateral damage in the race by policymakers and tech firms towards AI dominance".

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

"Should we are able in proving that AI assisted to compose the lyrics and melody in 'I Run' and are granted a share of the song, we would seek to allocate each of Jorja's collaborators with a corresponding share," it detailed.

The Continuing Rise of Computer-Generated Music

The proliferation of algorithmically created music has been a source of both fascination and consternation for the entertainment world.

• In June, the group Velvet Sundown accumulated vast numbers 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 country sales chart, demonstrating that audiences are not always averse to hearing computer-generated music.
• Suno was previously sued for copyright infringement by the industry's major biggest record labels, but those cases have now been settled.

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

Yet, it is unclear how a large number of well-known artists will agree to such applications of their identity.

Just last week, a collective of prominent musicians such as Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush released a vinyl album featuring silent songs or recordings of quiet studios in protest to proposed changes to copyright law.

They argue these changes would make it easier for AI companies to train models using copyrighted work without securing a permission.