No. 38AI & Digital
AI / ML Training Rights
Also called AI training, machine learning rights, generative AI clause, training data
Whether your recordings can be used to train artificial intelligence or machine learning models.
High risk
AI training rights in the label's favour could allow permanent, unlimited replication of an artist's sound and voice without consent.
- Appears in
- Recording Agreement, Distribution Agreement, Licensing Agreement, 360 Deal
- Topic
- Emerging Technology
- Jurisdiction
- United States
- Reviewed
- July 2026
In plain English
AI training rights determine whether the label or any licensee can feed your recordings into AI systems to generate new music, vocal models, or derivative content. These rights were not addressed in most contracts signed before 2022 and are now a major battleground. Without an explicit prohibition, ambiguous contract language may permit AI training.
Why it matters
If your voice or musical style is used to train an AI model, it can be replicated and monetised indefinitely without your consent or payment. An AI trained on your recordings could generate unlimited content that competes with your own releases.
Where it can land
The same clause is drafted three ways. These are the positions we see, worst first, so you can tell at a glance which one is in front of you.
- No mention of AI or machine learning in the contract at all (silence may be exploited)
- Broad licence for 'all forms of technology now known or hereafter devised' without AI carve-out
- Label can sublicence to AI companies without approval
- AI use addressed but definition of 'training data' is narrow and easy to circumvent
- AI prohibition only covers the label's own use, not sublicencees
- Explicit prohibition on using recordings for AI/ML training without separate written consent
- Any AI-derived content requires separate licensing and revenue-sharing agreement
- Prohibition extends to all sublicencees and affiliated companies
The language
The drafting language and the negotiation moves for this clause are part of the workspace.
You have read what the clause means and where the risk sits. The rest is the side-by-side of how it reads when it is against you and when it is not, plus the specific moves that get it there.