NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — The U.S. Department of Justice has filed criminal charges against a North Carolina man for allegedly using AI to create hundreds of thousands of songs, then streaming them via bots, earning millions of dollars in royalties.
The indictment, filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York, charges Michael Smith with wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, each of which carries a possible 20-year prison sentence.
“As alleged, Michael Smith fraudulently streamed his artificial intelligence-created songs billions of times in order to steal copyright royalties. Through this audacious fraudulent scheme, Smith stole millions of dollars in royalties that should have been paid to musicians, songwriters and other rights holders of the songs he lawfully streamed. Today, thanks to the work of the FBI and the expert prosecutors in this office, it’s time for Smith to be held accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Damien Williams.
“Michael Smith allegedly used artificial intelligence to produce hundreds of thousands of songs and then used automated features to stream his music repeatedly, earning up to $10 million in illegal copyright royalties. The defendant’s scheme undermined the integrity of the music industry with a coordinated attempt to circumvent streaming platform policies. The FBI remains committed to prosecuting those who manipulate sophisticated technology to obtain illicit profits or infringe on the genuine artistic talent of others,” added FBI Acting Assistant Director Christy M. Curtis.
According to the indictment, Smith is accused of using automated systems, also known as bots, to create thousands of accounts on streaming platforms including Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube Music to post AI-generated music for which he owned the copyright.
Smith then allegedly used a network of bots to stream the songs and earn royalties. According to the indictment, Smith estimated that using the bot accounts he could generate approximately 661,440 streams per day, allowing him to earn $1,207,128 in royalties per year.
To create the songs, Smith is alleged to have worked with the CEO of an AI music company and a music promoter to create hundreds of thousands of songs using artificial intelligence to generate royalty income for himself.
As part of the plan, Smith has given the AI-generated music thousands of random titles, including “Zygopteris” and “Zygopteron,” as well as creating a list of fictional artists, including “Calliope Bloom,” “Calm Weary” and “Camel Edible.”
The Justice Department also alleged that Smith made numerous false statements to streaming platforms, provided false names and other information when creating his accounts, and misled the platforms into making billions of streams of his music appear to be from real users, when in fact they were bots.
Federal prosecutors allege Smith knew he was involved in a fraud, citing an email he sent to two alleged co-conspirators in late December 2018 saying he “needed to get hold of a large amount of songs in a hurry to get around the anti-fraud policies these people currently use.”
This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office Complex Fraud and Cybercrimes Section. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas W. Ciucciolo and Kevin Mead are in charge of the prosecution.
It is unclear whether Smith has hired an attorney, and he could not be reached for comment.
