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The record label representing Brit Award-winning singer Jorja Smith has declared its intention to claim a share of royalties from a song it asserts was created using an artificial intelligence "replica" of the performer's distinctive voice.

The track, titled 'I Run' by British dance act Haven, gained widespread traction on TikTok in October, in part due to its polished soul vocals by an unnamed female vocalist.

Despite its momentum and potential top 40 position in the UK and US, the song was subsequently banned by leading music services after industry bodies sent copyright requests, stating it breached intellectual property law by impersonating another musician.

Although 'I Run' has since been re-released with different singing, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it believes the initial version was made with AI programmed on her extensive recordings and is now seeking financial redress.

A Larger Principle at Stake

"The situation is not only about one artist. It's larger than a single performer or one song," the label stated in a public announcement.

FAMM also expressed its belief that "each versions of the song infringe on Jorja's legal rights and unjustly take advantage of the work of all the writers with whom she collaborates."

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

Suggesting that her supporters were potentially misled by Haven's first track, the label added: "Our industry must not permit this to become the new normal."

Producers Admit Employing AI Tools

The team behind the song have openly confirmed utilizing AI in its creation.

Producer Harrison Walker explained that the original vocals were in fact his own but were heavily altered using music-generation platform Suno, sometimes referred to as the "ChatGPT for music".

In addition, the second producer, Waypoint, whose real name is Jacob Donaghue, confirmed on social media that AI was used to "apply our original vocal a feminine quality".

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

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

"As a creator and producer, I enjoy using new tools, techniques and remaining on the forefront of what's happening," he continued.

"In order to set the facts straight, the people behind HAVEN are actual and people, and all we aim to do is make great music for fellow humans."

Regulatory Gray Areas and Industry Impact

While their first release of 'I Run' was blocked from official rankings, the new recording managed to enter the UK Top 40 recently.

FAMM has framed the incident as a critical precedent for the music industry's evolving relationship with artificial intelligence.

The label argued it had "a duty to speak up" and "stimulate public discourse", because AI is proliferating at an "rapid rate and significantly outpacing regulation".

"AI-generated material should be clearly labelled as such so that the public may decide whether they listen to it or not," the message added.

Creators Become 'Collateral Victims'

Smith shared her label's position on her personal social media profile.

The text cautioned that artists and creators were becoming "unintended casualties in the race by governments and tech firms towards AI supremacy".

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

"If we are able in establishing that AI assisted to compose the words and melody in 'I Run' and are granted a portion of the song, we would aim to allocate each of Jorja's collaborators with a pro-rata share," it detailed.

The Continuing Rise of AI Music

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

• In the summer, the group Velvet Sundown gathered millions of streams before revealing they used AI to help develop their sound.
• Last month, an AI-generated "performer" called Breaking Rust topped a US country digital song sales chart, demonstrating that audiences are not necessarily opposed to consuming computer-generated music.
• Suno was previously sued for alleged violations by the world's three biggest record labels, but those cases have now been settled.

Subsequently, Warner Music entered into a partnership with the company, which will allow users to create songs using the voices, names, and images of Warner artists who opt in to the service.

Yet, it remains uncertain how many well-known artists will consent to such uses of their identity.

Recently, a group of renowned artists including Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush released a vinyl album containing tracks of silence or recordings of empty studios in opposition to proposed revisions to intellectual property regulations.

They argue these changes would make it simpler for AI companies to train systems using copyrighted work without obtaining a permission.