Eminem isn’t actually suing anyone, but his catalog is. Eight Mile Style, the publisher that controls rights to 269 of his compositions, has filed a lawsuit against AI music generator Suno in San Francisco federal court, seeking roughly $41 million.
The complaint alleges Suno used copyrighted Eminem material to train its technology and then let users generate music and lyrics that resemble his work.
Songs named in reporting on the filing include “Lose Yourself,” “Stan” and “The Real Slim Shady,” which is about as recognizable a trio as rap has.
The math behind the number is pretty blunt. Eight Mile Style wants $150,000 for each of the 269 compositions, which adds up to $40.35 million, plus another $672,000 over the alleged removal of copyright information.
That’s what the publisher is asking for, not what any court has awarded, and the accusations remain unproven.
This isn’t the first time Eight Mile Style has gone to court over this catalog. It sued Spotify in 2019 over the streaming of Eminem songs, and a federal judge ruled in Spotify’s favor in 2024.
The Eminem filing didn’t land alone. Elvis Presley Enterprises and affiliated rights holders brought their own case against Suno, also in the Northern District of California, and theirs pushes into different territory.
Beyond claiming Suno used copyrighted Presley material without permission, the Elvis complaint alleges the platform enabled unauthorized replicas of his voice.
It also accuses Suno of violating Tennessee’s ELVIS Act, the 2024 state law designed to protect performers’ voices and likenesses.
That raises a question the Eminem case doesn’t: can an AI company be held responsible when users recreate an identifiable singer’s voice?
Suno is pushing back. In a statement to Billboard, the company said it “exists to help people create new, original music, not to trade on anyone’s name or likeness, and we prohibit any unauthorized use of an artist’s work.”
The company says it blocks prompts that name specific artists and songs and uses third party providers to screen uploaded audio files and lyrics for potential misuse.
“We are always working to strengthen our guardrails and we will continue to add new safeguards that protect artists and our users,” the statement added.
Critics of AI music would argue that blocking an artist’s name doesn’t settle much if the model was trained on their songs in the first place.
That’s the core of what Eight Mile Style is claiming, and it’s about what went into the system rather than what users are allowed to type.
Suno has been here before. Major record labels sued the company in 2024 over its training data, a fight that has since seen Warner Music Group reach a settlement and partnership with the platform.
Both complaints now wait on answers in the Northern District of California. The fight will come down to evidence about how Suno built its system, not how convincingly a machine can deliver a familiar sound.
