Your rights
Can You Sue if AI Used Your Music?
If a generative AI model learned from your songs, whether you can act on it comes down to one thing you actually control: registration. Here is how that works, in plain terms.
The short answer
In the U.S., you generally cannot file a copyright infringement lawsuit for a song that is not registered with the Copyright Office. So the practical answer to "can I sue" starts with a different question: is the work registered? Registration is what gives you standing. Without it, the strength of your claim does not matter, because the courthouse door is closed. This is general information, not legal advice.
Why registration is the gate
- 1.You must register to sue. Federal copyright infringement claims require a registration on file first.
- 2.Statutory damages. Registered works can claim $750 to $150,000 per work without proving actual losses. Unregistered works cannot.
- 3.Attorney fees. Courts can make the infringer pay your legal costs, which is what makes a case viable for an independent artist.
- 4.Proposed CLEAR Act. The bill would create disclosure penalties when AI companies fail to report copyrighted works they used, but those protections would also apply only to registered copyrights.
What no one can tell you (yet)
No public tool can confirm whether a specific generative AI model was trained on your specific song. The companies building these models have not disclosed their training data. So anyone promising a definitive answer about a particular model and a particular track is guessing.
What you can check is concrete: whether your music appears in the public datasets used in AI music research, and whether each song is registered. The case that matters most is a song that is both exposed in that data and unregistered: potentially used, with no standing to act.
What to do now
Run the free check to see, in one pass, which of your songs appear in the public AI datasets and which are registered. Then prioritize registering the songs that are exposed and unregistered. Registration costs $65 per work at copyright.gov, and it is the step that turns "my music might have been used" into "I have standing to do something about it."
This page is general information, not legal advice. For decisions about your specific catalog, consult a copyright attorney.
Frequently asked
Can I sue if my song is not registered?
Generally no. Under U.S. law you must register a work with the Copyright Office before you can file a copyright infringement suit in federal court. Registration is the gate. This is general information, not legal advice.
Can anyone prove a generative AI model trained on my song?
No public tool can confirm what a specific generative AI model was trained on, because that training data has not been disclosed. What you can verify is whether your music appears in the public datasets used in AI music research, and whether each song is registered.
How much could a registered work be worth?
Copyright infringement statutory damages run from $750 up to $150,000 per work, and a court can order the infringer to pay your attorney fees. Those remedies are only available for registered copyrights. This is general information, not legal advice.
Is this legal advice?
No. This page is general information to help you understand where you stand. For a decision about your specific catalog, talk to a copyright attorney.
Check your own music free
See which of your songs appear in the public AI training datasets, and which are registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. Free, no signup.