Sony Group has developed a technology that can identify the underlying music used in tunes generated by artificial intelligence, making it possible for songwriters to seek compensation from AI developers if their music was used, according to Nikkei Asia.

Sony Group's technology analyzes which musicians' songs were used in learning and generating music. It can quantify the contribution of each original work, such as "30% of the music used by the Beatles and 10% by Queen," for example.

If the AI developer agrees to cooperate for the analysis, Sony Group will obtain data by connecting to the developer's base model system. When cooperation is not attainable, the technology estimates the original work by comparing AI-generated music with existing music.

The artificial intelligence boom has sparked numerous cases in which AI developers are accused of using copyrighted music, video and writing without permission to train machines. In the music industry, AI-generated songs using the voices of well-known singers have been distributed online.

The Japanese company thinks the technology will help create a system that distributes revenue generated by AI music to original songwriters based on their contribution.

In Japan, copyright law protects music rights in two categories: copyrights held by songwriters, composers and music publishers, and neighboring rights held by performers and record producers. Sony Group owns major music labels and a publisher, and controls half of the late Michael Jackson's catalog.

Music production companies and publishers collect royalties when songs are used in movies, TV shows or music streaming services, and distribute them to rights holders. If the music used by AI for training and content generation can be identified, it could be possible for rights holders to collect royalties from the AI developer. This also could prevent infringement on copyrights through unauthorized use.

The technology was developed by Sony AI, part of Sony Group's research and development division, and a related paper was accepted at an international conference. The division also developed a method to prevent AI from imitating the style of anime and its characters, such as those of Studio Ghibli, or from simply generating images it has learned.

This technology also can be applied to areas such as videos, games and characters. Sony Group said it has yet to decide when the system will be put to practical use.

Sony Group envisions AI development companies incorporating the technology into their own models, and content companies using it in negotiating licenses.

But it is unclear how proactively AI developers will use such technology to honor copyrights. Some in the industry say artificial intelligence companies prioritize improving the performance of AI models and are less interested in preventing intellectual property infringement.