Disputes over artificial intelligence (AI) voices and deepfakes are putting control of artist digital likeness in focus. Music companies are taking different approaches to licensing, consent and unauthorized use.
Addison Rae supplied Epic Games with ten selfies to create her Fortnite skin, providing facial references without a photoshoot or scan.
The release included two outfits, two emotes and two Jam Tracks, alongside her in-game avatar. Such digital representations raise questions about who can create them, authorize their use and control subsequent applications.
Disputes over identities and voices
Jason Isbell and other musicians sued Suno this year over artists’ identities being used in AI-generated music.
Suno says it blocks artist names. The lawsuit alleges that inserting spaces between letters, as in “t a y l o r s w i f t”, circumvents that restriction.
deadmau5 discovered an AI-generated video on another DJ’s Instagram account that depicted him endorsing that DJ’s music. The deepfake used existing footage.
The viral track “I Run” featured vocals resembling Jorja Smith, although she had not recorded them. Her label spent weeks seeking compensation for the use of her voice.
The label also argued that it would seek a share of songwriting credit if AI had generated the lyrics or melody, rather than solely imitating Smith’s voice.
Labels take different licensing paths
The three largest labels have adopted different responses to AI-generated music and artist likeness use:
- Universal has combined litigation with licensing, suing Suno while settling with Udio and establishing a licensing arrangement.
- Sony has pursued takedowns of unauthorized AI tracks and litigation rather than entering licensing deals.
- Warner has pursued agreements with opt-in provisions that allow participating artists to authorize specified uses of their voices and likenesses.
Ownership of a recording does not automatically confer rights over every use of the voice or face associated with it.
Most of these agreements are negotiated privately, limiting public scrutiny of when artist permission is required and how digital representations can be used after approval.
Consent, reuse and contract limits
In 2024, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) reached an agreement with Replica Studios covering the creation and use of AI voices.
Its publicly available terms require:
- Informed consent before a voice model is created.
- Additional permission before the model is used in a new project.
- A licence that expires unless the performer agrees to renew it.
Artist opt-in provisions address permission, but also leave a separate question: who controls an authorized model or avatar after its creation?
Potential contract provisions include limits on duration, reuse and derivative uses, alongside fresh approval and fees for sequels, new campaigns or later model updates.
Another proposed arrangement places digital likeness rights with one or more entities majority-controlled by the artist, licensing individual uses through separate deals.
Control over an authorized digital likeness does not prevent others from creating unauthorized deepfakes using material already available to the public.
