{"id":173010,"date":"2024-07-03T16:15:34","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T16:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/culture.org\/?p=173010"},"modified":"2024-07-03T16:15:34","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T16:15:34","slug":"tupac-shakur-sues-drake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/culture.org\/art-and-culture\/music\/tupac-shakur-sues-drake\/","title":{"rendered":"Drake Faces Legal Threats from Tupac\u2019s Estate Over AI-Generated Kendrick Lamar Diss Track"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Tupac Shakur\u2019s estate threatens to sue Drake over a diss track that uses an AI-generated version of Tupac&#8217;s voice.<\/p>\n<p>The estate claims this unauthorized use disrespects Tupac&#8217;s legacy and violates legal rights.<\/p>\n           <!--  <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n                jQuery(document).ready(function() {\r\n                    jQuery(\".key-accordion-item .key-menu\").on(\"click\", function() {\r\n                        if (jQuery(this).parent().hasClass(\"active\")) {\r\n                            jQuery(this).next().slideUp();\r\n                            jQuery(this).parent().removeClass(\"active\");\r\n                        } else {\r\n                            jQuery(\".key-content\").slideUp();\r\n                            jQuery(\".key-accordion-item\").removeClass(\"active\");\r\n                            jQuery(this).parent().addClass(\"active\");\r\n                            jQuery(this).next().slideDown();\r\n                        }\r\n                    });\r\n                })\r\n            <\/script> -->\r\n\r\n\r\n            <!-- start html -->\r\n\r\n            <div class=\"news-key-takeaway-wapper\">\r\n                                <span style=\"background-color:#4db2ee;\">Key Takeaways<\/span>\r\n                <ul class=\"news-key-nbox\" style=\"border-color:#4db2ee;background-color:rgba(77, 178, 238, 0.1);\">\r\n                                                        <li>Tupac Shakur's estate threatens to sue Drake for using AI to mimic Tupac's voice in a song.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>The case highlights concerns about using AI in music without permission.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>Major record labels are also suing AI companies for using songs without permission to train their systems.<\/li>\r\n                                                <\/ul>\r\n            <\/div>\r\n            \n<h2>Drake\u2019s AI-Generated Diss Track<\/h2>\n<p>Tupac Shakur\u2019s estate is taking <b>legal action against Drake for using AI to create a diss track<\/b> called &#8220;Taylor Made Freestyle.&#8221; This track uses AI to develop voices that sound like Tupac and Snoop Dogg.<\/p>\n<p>Through their lawyer, Howard King, Tupac&#8217;s estate <b>sent a letter demanding that Drake remove the track from all platforms<\/b>. This situation brought up important questions about using AI in the music industry.<\/p>\n<h2>The AI-Generated Diss Track Controversy<\/h2>\n<p>Drake released &#8220;Taylor Made Freestyle&#8221; on Instagram, where <b>he used AI to create verses that sound like Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>This track quickly caught people&#8217;s attention because of how it was made. The use of AI to copy the voices of famous artists, especially those who have passed away without permission, has caused much controversy.<\/p>\n<p>Howard King, the lawyer for Tupac\u2019s estate, sent a cease-and-desist letter to Drake. He demanded that Drake <b>remove the track or face legal action<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>King said, \u201c<i>The Estate would never have given its approval for this use<\/i>,\u201d and called the track a \u201c<i>blatant abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Problems and Questions Surrounding AI in Music<\/h2>\n<p>The fight between Tupac\u2019s estate and Drake is part of a bigger issue with using AI in music.<\/p>\n<p>AI tools have made it easy to create new music using the voices of real artists, which <b>raises questions about who owns the rights to these voices and music<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, over 200 artists signed a letter asking AI developers and tech companies to respect the rights of human artists.<\/p>\n<p>The letter from Tupac\u2019s estate also referenced the previous incident involving an <a href=\"https:\/\/culture.org\/art-and-culture\/music\/ai-generated-song-featuring-drake-and-the-weeknd-sparks-controversy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AI-generated song, \u201cHeart on My Sleeve<\/a>,\u201d which featured unauthorized emulations of Drake and The Weeknd.<\/p>\n<p>That song was taken down after it went viral. King pointed out that <b>Drake\u2019s record label took down the AI song that copied Drake\u2019s voice<\/b>, yet Drake used a similar method for \u201cTaylor Made Freestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Other Legal Actions Against AI Companies<\/h2>\n<p>The legal issues with AI-generated music are not just between artists. The <b>Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has filed lawsuits<\/b> against AI companies like Suno and Uncharted Labs.<\/p>\n<p>These companies <b>used popular songs without artists\u2019 permission to train their AI systems<\/b>, creating music that competes with the original songs.<\/p>\n<p>Suno and Uncharted Labs have raised a lot of money and have many users creating music with their AI.<\/p>\n<p>The RIAA argues that while AI can help create new music, <b>it must be done in a way that respects the original creators&#8217; rights.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The lawsuits aim to stop unlicensed AI-generated music from hurting the incomes and rights of human artists.<\/p>\n<h2>The Case for AI Governance in the Music Industry<\/h2>\n<p>The fight between Tupac Shakur\u2019s estate and Drake over <a href=\"https:\/\/culture.org\/art-and-culture\/music\/grimes-supports-ai-generated-music-pledges-royalty-split\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AI-generated music<\/a> shows that clear rules are needed in the music world.<\/p>\n<p>As AI technology improves, it\u2019s important to protect artists&#8217; rights. This case could set an important example for how we use AI in music and protect musicians\u2019 rights in the digital age.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":10026,"featured_media":173012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[398],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-173010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173010"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10026"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}