Drake, The Weeknd voices cloned using AI

Heart on my Sleeve, a song created using artificial intelligence by a TikTok user and which went viral across a number of online music platforms, landed in hot water for violating copyright law.

Created by TikToker @Ghostwriter977, the song was trained on vocals by Drake and The Weeknd and was supposedly produced by Metro Boomin. 

The song was quickly removed from TikTok, video, and music streaming services following takedown requests issued by Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), which said it violated copyright law. 

According to the song's 'creator', 'I was a ghostwriter for years and got paid close to nothing just for major labels to profit'. 'The future is here.' 

Legal, regulatory 👩🏼‍⚖️

• Universal Music Publishing Group (2023). Discord takedown request

• US Copyright Office (2023). Copyright Registration Guidance: Works Containing Material Generated by Artificial Intelligence (pdf)

Research, advocacy 🧮

• Human Artistry Campaign

News, commentary, analysis 🗞️

• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-65309313

• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-65298834

• https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/18/23688141/ai-drake-song-ghostwriter-copyright-umg-the-weeknd

• https://www.npr.org/2023/04/21/1171032649/ai-music-heart-on-my-sleeve-drake-the-weeknd

• https://edition.cnn.com/videos/business/2023/04/23/drake-the-weeknd-ai-song-sarlin-acostanr-contd-vpx.cnn

• https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/viral-drake-and-the-weeknd-collaboration-is-completely-ai-generated-1234716154/