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The record label representing award-winning artist Jorja Smith has stated its desire to claim a share of royalties from a track it asserts was produced using an AI "clone" of the performer's distinctive voice.

The song, titled 'I Run' by British electronic duo Haven, gained widespread popularity on social media last October, in part due to its polished soul singing by an uncredited woman singer.

Although its success and potential top 40 position in both UK and US, the track was later removed by major streaming platforms after industry organizations issued takedown requests, alleging it violated copyright by impersonating another artist.

Even though 'I Run' has since been re-released with completely new singing, Smith's label, FAMM, insists it is convinced the original recording was generated with AI programmed on her extensive work and is now pursuing financial redress.

A Larger Issue in Play

"This is not only about Jorja. This is larger than one artist or a single track," the label stated in a public announcement.

FAMM also expressed its view that "each iterations of the song infringe on Jorja's rights and unfairly benefit from the work of all the songwriters with whom she collaborates."

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

Implying that her fans were potentially deceived by Haven's first release, the label added: "We cannot permit this to be the standard practice."

Creators Admit Employing AI Tools

The team behind the song have publicly confirmed utilizing AI during its production process.

Songwriter Harrison Walker explained that the original vocals were actually his own but were heavily manipulated using AI music platform Suno, often referred to as the "advanced tool for music".

Meanwhile, the second member, Waypoint, identified as Jacob Donaghue, confirmed on his accounts that AI was used to "give our original vocal a female quality".

Donaghue and Walker maintain that they wrote and created the music themselves and have even shared files of their original computer files.

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

"Being a songwriter and producer, I like experimenting with innovative technologies, methods and staying on the cutting edge of industry trends," he added.

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

Regulatory Uncertainty and Broader Implications

Although their first release of 'I Run' was suspended from official charts, the replacement version did enter the UK Top 40 last week.

FAMM has positioned the entire episode as a significant test case for the entertainment sector's evolving interaction with artificial intelligence.

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

"AI-generated content should be clearly identified as such so that the public may decide whether they consume it or not," the message added.

Creators Become 'Unintended Damage'

Smith endorsed her label's position on her own social media profile.

The post warned that artists and songwriters were becoming "unintended casualties in the competition by governments and tech firms towards AI supremacy".

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

"If we are successful in proving that AI helped to compose the words and tune in 'I Run' and are granted a share of the song, we would seek to allocate every one of Jorja's co-writers with a corresponding share," it explained.

The Continuing Growth of Computer-Generated Music

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

• In June, the group Velvet Sundown accumulated vast numbers of streams before disclosing they used AI to aid craft their sound.
• Recently, an AI-generated "artist" known as Breaking Rust topped a US genre digital song sales chart, demonstrating that listeners are not necessarily averse to hearing computer-generated music.
• Suno was previously taken to court for copyright infringement by the world's major biggest record labels, though those legal actions have now been resolved.

Following this, Warner Music entered into a collaboration with the firm, which will enable users to generate songs using the vocal likenesses, names, and images of Warner acts who agree to the program.

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

Recently, a group of renowned musicians including Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush released a vinyl album featuring tracks of silence or audio of quiet studios in protest to proposed revisions to intellectual property regulations.

They contend these amendments would make it easier for AI companies to develop systems using copyrighted work without securing a permission.