ITHome News from 10/6: According to Reuters, Italy's antitrust authority announced on Tuesday that it has opened an investigation into the artificial intelligence music startup Suno. The authority pointed out that certain provisions in Suno's terms of service may constitute unfair treatment of consumers.
Officials stated that Suno's terms of service could lead to a serious imbalance between users' rights and obligations. These terms grant Suno “broad discretionary power”,enabling it to unilaterally change contract terms, service features and subscription fees without giving any reasonable explanation。
The regulator also emphasized that the scope of the licensing rights users are required to transfer is overly broad,even including clauses waiving moral rights in copyright works, which is suspected of conflicting with the relevant provisions of Italian copyright law.
In addition, Suno's terms force users to resolve disputes through a mandatory arbitration channel located in the United States,and compel users to waive the right to bring class-action lawsuits, while designating Massachusetts in the United States as the sole litigation venue。
ITHome has learned that the Italian regulator will launch a public consultation procedure on the matter in the coming weeks, during which relevant industry associations, chambers of commerce and consumer rights protection organizations will all be able to take part in the discussion.
Suno has not immediately commented.