Copyright Laundering

Link to YT videoPeople use AI (SUNO, UDIO) to create songs comprised of real musicians' copy-protected works. It's blatant copyright infringement, hidden by laundering copyrights so they can't be traced to the original owners. Here is what you need to know:Money LaunderingAl Capone used to run money made from bootlegging and other crimes through laundromats to 'clean' money, make it legitimate, so that nobody could trace it back to the original 'dirty' crime money. Thus the term 'money laundering'. The music biz, including Spotify, has had a history of money laundering.Derivative WorksWhen someone alters a copyrighted work, it's easy to trace the original content of derivative works, when songs are altered in some way, by comparing the original to the altered version. The composer of the original can then be compensated as required by law.Copyright LaunderingCopyright laundering is when AI is trained on legit copyrighted material and used to create new music, but the synthetic result is then trained on again, and again, with elements of the original work passed down and mixed into each new version, so that it's impossible to trace back to the original work and copyright owner. Each new song is then copyrighted by the 'composer' without compensating the original copyright holder.HumanizationAnd even though AI generated work isn't copyrightable, by adding a little 'humanization', such as "timing edits, analog processing, metadata stripping, even real musicians replaying part, it qualifies for copyright registration and royalty collection—despite its AI origins and use of pre-existing material."00:00 - intro 00:11 - Money laundering01:31 - Copyright laundering01:54 - Derivative works and copyright03:36 - AI and copyright laundering06:38 - Humanizing AI generated music for copyright claims 07:26 - Impossible to trace the original copyrighted materialSources available at https://snydersmusicbiznews.blogspot.com/2025/08/copyright-laundering-its-thing.html