Adams & Reese IP Team Fights to Protect Elvis and Eminem Rights Holders from AI Giant

Adams & Reese Nashville lawyers Richard Busch, Drew Davis, and David Niemierzycki filed two new federal lawsuits against AI music generator Suno, drawing coverage from Billboard, Variety, and other national and international outlets. The team represents Elvis Presley music rights holders, including Authentic Brands Group, in one case and Eight Mile Style, the publisher that controls hundreds of Eminem recordings, in the other.

Busch, Davis, and Niemierzycki are members of the Adams & Reese Global Intellectual Property Practice, where they focus on entertainment and new media matters for artists, producers, songwriters, and rights holders. Busch, a leading entertainment and copyright litigator, has represented some of the biggest names in music and entertainment. Nashville Counsel Mark Block also joins the Adams & Reese IP team in representing the clients in both cases against Suno.

According to Billboard and Variety, the Presley complaint alleges copyright infringement and claims Suno lets users clone Presley's "unmistakable and iconic voice" without permission. The complaint invokes Tennessee's Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act, a 2024 law that expressly imposes liability on companies that provide tools enabling unauthorized use of a person's voice and likeness. Eight Mile Style's separate complaint alleges Suno infringed its copyrights in Eminem recordings, including "Lose Yourself," "Without Me," and "The Real Slim Shady."

Billboard reporter Bill Donahue described Busch as “a veteran music litigator” and quoted his filing: “All of the humanity, history, despair, and triumph that constitutes Elvis' identity was stolen and is stored on servers and harnessed by Suno to make massive amounts of money.” Variety reporter Corbin Bolies also quoted a line from the Presley filing, “The next Elvis won't pick up a guitar,” and noted that the complaints include examples of AI-generated songs that allegedly sound like Presley or reproduce Eminem's lyrics. Billboard called the Presley suit one of the first major cases under the ELVIS Act, one that will raise untested questions about how far AI companies can be held liable for imitating an artist's identity. Those questions carry real stakes for music publishers, recording owners, and artists' estates.

Read the full article from Billboard here.

Read the full article from Variety here.