According to Variety, Elvis Presley's music rightsholders and the publisher of Eminem's catalog have filed separate federal lawsuits against the AI music generator Suno. The Presley complaint runs 51 pages and claims Suno violates Tennessee's ELVIS Act every time a user prompts a song in the King's voice.
Read that again: Tennessee's ELVIS Act. A 2024 law named after the King, now invoked in federal court by the company that licenses the King to everything. Authentic Brands Group runs the Elvis licensing factory, the machine that has been selling the King to the commercial universe since 2013, and the factory is now in court demanding royalties from an AI startup. That is not a copyright suit. That is a franchise renewal with a judge.
The best line in all 51 pages comes from the lawyers: "The next Elvis won't pick up a guitar." True. The next Elvis will file a motion to compel. The Eminem side of the case was not filed by Eminem at all, it was filed by Eight Mile Style, the LLC that owns "Lose Yourself." The man is not a party. The catalog is the plaintiff. Slim Shady is a footnote in his own lawsuit, which is the most 2026 thing about the whole thing.
Suno is collecting these complaints like trading cards. The same rightsholders already sued Anthropic over 274 songs in October, and a Michigan judge let Eight Mile's $110M suit against Meta move to discovery. Between filings, the company raised $400M at a $5.4B valuation. The complaint calls Suno a "conveyor belt of cold hard cash," and read it twice and you will notice the description fits both sides of the table.
YOUR TURN: The King's own lawyers say the next Elvis won't pick up a guitar. What they mean is: pick up the check.
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