Music City LawTuesday, November 10
Elvis Presley Enterprises sues AI music generator Suno under Tennessee's ELVIS Act
The 5AM Memphis team
Elvis Presley Enterprises and 13 other plaintiffs are suing Suno, an AI music generator, over what the complaint calls a “potpourri of willful violations” of Tennessee's ELVIS Act. The group filed the suit Nov. 6, and it alleges Suno profited from Presley's music in an amount believed to exceed $50 million.
The suit puts big numbers on Suno's reach
- $50 million
- in alleged Suno profit from Presley's music, per the suit
- 13
- other plaintiffs joined Elvis Presley Enterprises
- 10
- free songs a day users can make on Suno
Sources: Daily Memphian, Action News 5
Gov. Bill Lee signed the ELVIS Act in March 2024. It bars using AI to replicate a performer's voice without permission. The suit says Suno has “stolen Elvis’ voice, his image, and likeness.” It follows a suit against Anthropic filed last month, which says Anthropic used songs like “All Shook Up” to train its AI agent Claude.
Elvis's music owners have now sued two AI companies
- March 2024Gov. Bill Lee signs the ELVIS Act into law.
- Oct. 2026Presley's music owners sue Anthropic over alleged copyright violations.
- Nov. 6Elvis Presley Enterprises files suit against Suno in federal court.
Sources: WREG.com, Action News 5
- Court: U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
- Asks for: injunction, destroyed copies, damages to be proven at trial
- Suno: Massachusetts-based, founded in 2022
Sources: Daily Memphian, WREG.com, Action News 5