Within AI Training
Why the Suno and Udio lawsuits matter
The Suno and Udio cases turned AI music training from a theory into a high-stakes copyright fight over copied recordings.
On this page
- What the labels alleged
- How fair use enters the dispute
- What the cases reveal about training data
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Introduction
The lawsuits against Suno and Udio transformed a long-running theoretical debate about AI training into a concrete copyright battle over music recordings. Both companies offer systems that generate complete songs from text prompts. In June 2024, major record companies alleged that those systems were built by copying vast numbers of copyrighted sound recordings without permission. The companies did not merely challenge AI-generated outputs; they targeted the training process itself. That distinction matters because the cases ask a foundational question for generative music: can an AI developer lawfully make training copies of commercial recordings without obtaining licences from the owners of those recordings? [Reuters]reuters.comMusic labels sue AI companies Suno, Udio for US copyright infringementThe labels claim that the AI companies used their music recordings without permission to train music-generating AI systems, which compete…
The cases are widely viewed as a test of whether music training data will become a licensed market or remain largely governed by claims of fair use. Because Suno and Udio acknowledged training on copyrighted recordings while arguing that the practice is lawful, the dispute centres less on whether copying occurred and more on whether that copying is legally excused. [The Verge]theverge.comThe Verge AI music startups say copyright violation is just rock and rollThe lawsuits claim that Suno and Udio unlawfully used copyrighted sound recordings to train their music-generating AI models. The RIAA se… [Reuters]reuters.comThe lawsuits accuse the startups of using copyrighted sound recordings to train their AI music-generation systems without permission. Sun…
What the labels alleged
The lawsuits were filed by companies affiliated with major record groups including Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Records. The complaints accused Suno and Udio of “mass copyright infringement” through the unauthorised use of copyrighted sound recordings during model training. The labels sought substantial statutory damages and injunctions against further infringement. Reuters [pitchfork]pitchfork.comThe plaintiffs, including Sony Music Entertainment, UMG Recordings, and Warner Records, claim that the AI companies are saturating the ma… A notable feature of the complaints was their focus on recordings rather than abstract AI behaviour. The labels argued that training required reproducing protected works and that the resulting systems could compete with the music on which they were trained. According to the complaints, users were able to generate outputs resembling well-known songs and artist styles, which the labels cited as evidence that commercially valuable recordings had been absorbed into the systems. Reuters [pitchfork]pitchfork.comThe plaintiffs, including Sony Music Entertainment, UMG Recordings, and Warner Records, claim that the AI companies are saturating the ma… The lawsuits also highlighted specific recordings allegedly copied during training. Reuters reported that the complaints identified hundredsof copyrighted songs and sought damages that could reach up to US$150,000 per infringed work under US copyright law. [Reuters]reuters.comCopyright Law in 2025: Courts begin to draw lines around…16 Mar 2026 — Both Suno and Udio have also moved to dismiss DMCA claims, argu…
What made the litigation unusual was that it targeted the hidden stage of AI development rather than the final generated songs. Traditional music copyright disputes often revolve around sampling, distribution or public performance. Here, the core allegation was that the act of building the model itself required unauthorised copies of protected recordings. [Reuters]reuters.comMusic labels sue AI companies Suno, Udio for US copyright infringementThe labels claim that the AI companies used their music recordings without permission to train music-generating AI systems, which compete…
How fair use enters the dispute
After the lawsuits were filed, both Suno and Udio responded with a defence that has become central across generative AI litigation: fair use. In court filings during 2024, the companies argued that training on copyrighted recordings was a transformative use because the systems learn patterns from music and then generate new works rather than distributing the originals. [Reuters]reuters.comThe lawsuits accuse the startups of using copyrighted sound recordings to train their AI music-generation systems without permission. Sun…
The significance of those filings went beyond the legal argument. Reports on the filings noted that both companies effectively acknowledged training on copyrighted recordings while contending that the practice was protected by fair use. That shifted the dispute away from factual questions about whether copyrighted music had been used and towards legal questions about whether such use is permissible. [TechCrunch]techcrunch.comTechCrunchAI music startup Suno claims training model on copyrighted…1 Aug 2024 — Suno admitted in a court filing on Thursday that it… [The Verge]theverge.comThe Verge AI music startups say copyright violation is just rock and rollThe lawsuits claim that Suno and Udio unlawfully used copyrighted sound recordings to train their music-generating AI models. The RIAA se…
The competing positions can be summarised as follows:
- Suno and Udio’s position: training is analogous to learning from existing music and produces new expressive outputs rather than replacement copies. Therefore, the use is transformative and should qualify as fair use. [Reuters]reuters.comCopyright Law in 2025: Courts begin to draw lines around…16 Mar 2026 — Both Suno and Udio have also moved to dismiss DMCA claims, argu…
- The labels’ position: the systems required wholesale copying of protected recordings and are capable of competing in the same market as human-created music. Therefore, the copying should require permission and compensation. [RIAA]riaa.comRIAARecord Companies Bring Landmark Cases for…24 Jun 2024 — Unlicensed services like Suno and Udio that claim it's 'fair' to copy an a…
The fair-use dispute is especially important because music differs from many other AI training contexts. The value of a recording often lies in its sound, performance and production choices. The labels argue that extracting those qualities without a licence is not comparable to ordinary human listening and learning. [Reuters]reuters.comCopyright Law in 2025: Courts begin to draw lines around…16 Mar 2026 — Both Suno and Udio have also moved to dismiss DMCA claims, argu…
Why the admissions became a turning point
One reason the Suno and Udio cases attracted intense attention is that they produced unusually direct statements about training practices. Before these lawsuits, many AI copyright disputes involved uncertainty about exactly what material had been used. The music cases became notable because the defendants did not simply deny training on copyrighted works. Instead, they largely argued that such training was lawful. [TechCrunch]techcrunch.comTechCrunchAI music startup Suno claims training model on copyrighted…1 Aug 2024 — Suno admitted in a court filing on Thursday that it… [The Verge]theverge.comThe Verge AI music startups say copyright violation is just rock and rollThe lawsuits claim that Suno and Udio unlawfully used copyrighted sound recordings to train their music-generating AI models. The RIAA se…
That distinction altered the debate. If training on copyrighted recordings occurred, then the legal focus shifts to questions such as:
- Whether training copies are themselves infringing reproductions.
- Whether the scale of copying affects the fair-use analysis.
- Whether existing or emerging licensing markets should influence the outcome.
- Whether AI-generated music competes with the same commercial market as the recordings used for training. [Reuters]reuters.comCopyright Law in 2025: Courts begin to draw lines around…16 Mar 2026 — Both Suno and Udio have also moved to dismiss DMCA claims, argu…
The lawsuits therefore became a vehicle for testing the boundaries of copyright law rather than a dispute over factual access to music catalogues.
What the cases reveal about training data
The most important lesson from the Suno and Udio litigation is that training data has become the central copyright battleground for AI music.
For years, public discussion often focused on outputs: whether an AI song sounded too similar to an existing track or imitated a famous artist. The lawsuits redirected attention to an earlier stage. The labels argued that the legally significant act occurred when recordings were copied into training pipelines, regardless of whether any later output reproduced a particular song. [Reuters]reuters.comCopyright Law in 2025: Courts begin to draw lines around…16 Mar 2026 — Both Suno and Udio have also moved to dismiss DMCA claims, argu…
The cases also revealed how difficult it can be to separate AI development from access to large music catalogues. Later court filings and discovery disputes reportedly centred on the scale of recordings used for training and on identifying specific works within training datasets. Those fights underscored the practical importance of knowing what material enters a model and under what legal authority. [Music Business Worldwide]musicbusinessworldwide.comAs Suno and Udio admit training AI with unlicensed…5 Aug 2024 — Controversial AI music startups Suno and Udio were sued by the major r…
A broader implication is that the music industry increasingly views training data as a licensable asset. While the lawsuits began as infringement claims, subsequent industry developments included licensing discussions and settlements involving some parties, suggesting that commercial licensing may become one path forward even as core legal questions remain unresolved. [Wall Street Journal]wsj.comWall Street Journal Universal Music Settles With AI Firm UdioAs part of the agreement, Udio will launch a licensed subscription-based music creation platform in 2026, allowing users to remix and cus…
Why these lawsuits matter
The Suno and Udio cases matter because they put a concrete legal question before the courts: does copyright law permit AI developers to copy commercial music recordings for training without permission?
Unlike debates about artist style imitation, synthetic voices or AI-generated outputs, these lawsuits focus directly on the evidence trail of training copies. The cases therefore sit at the heart of the broader conflict between generative AI and music copyright. Their eventual outcomes are likely to influence not only AI music generators but also how courts evaluate training data practices across creative industries. [Reuters]reuters.comCopyright Law in 2025: Courts begin to draw lines around…16 Mar 2026 — Both Suno and Udio have also moved to dismiss DMCA claims, argu… [Reuters]reuters.comCopyright Law in 2025: Courts begin to draw lines around…16 Mar 2026 — Both Suno and Udio have also moved to dismiss DMCA claims, argu…
Amazon book picks
Further Reading
Books and field guides related to Why the Suno and Udio lawsuits matter. Use these as the next step if you want deeper reading beyond the article.
Remix
Provides foundational thinking around copying, creativity, fair use and digital-era copyright debates.
The Future of the Music Business
Explains music copyright, licensing, rights ownership and industry legal disputes central to AI training cases.
All You Need to Know About the Music Business
Gives readers practical context on rights, licensing and the economics behind industry lawsuits.
The copyright book
First published 1981. Subjects: Copyright, United States, Copyright, united states, Droit d'auteur, LAW.
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Endnotes
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Source: reuters.com
Title: Music labels sue AI companies Suno, Udio for US copyright infringement
Link: https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/music-labels-sue-ai-companies-suno-udio-us-copyright-infringement-2024-06-24/Source snippet
The labels claim that the AI companies used their music recordings without permission to train music-generating AI systems, which compete...
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Source: riaa.com
Link: https://www.riaa.com/record-companies-bring-landmark-cases-for-responsible-ai-againstsuno-and-udio-in-boston-and-new-york-federal-courts-respectively/Source snippet
RIAARecord Companies Bring Landmark Cases for...24 Jun 2024 — Unlicensed services like Suno and Udio that claim it's 'fair' to copy an a...
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Source: reuters.com
Link: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/music-ai-startups-suno-udio-slam-record-label-lawsuits-court-filings-2024-08-01/Source snippet
The lawsuits accuse the startups of using copyrighted sound recordings to train their AI music-generation systems without permission. Sun...
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Source: techcrunch.com
Link: https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/01/ai-music-startup-suno-response-riaa-lawsuit/Source snippet
TechCrunchAI music startup Suno claims training model on copyrighted...1 Aug 2024 — Suno admitted in a court filing on Thursday that it...
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Source: pitchfork.com
Link: https://pitchfork.com/news/music-industry-groups-sue-ai-companies-for-stealing-artists-work-to-generate-musicSource snippet
The plaintiffs, including Sony Music Entertainment, UMG Recordings, and Warner Records, claim that the AI companies are saturating the ma...
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Source: riaa.com
Link: https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/Source snippet
RIAA Gold & PlatinumRIAA's historic Gold® & Platinum® Program defines success in the recorded music industry. Originally conceived to hon...
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Source: riaa.com
Title: Udio Complaint 6.24.241
Link: https://www.riaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Udio-Complaint-6.24.241.pdfSource snippet
Udio-Complaint-6.24.241.pdf24 Jun 2024 — Defendants John Does 1-10 are unknown parties who directly copied Plaintiffs' federally copyrigh...
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Source: suno.com
Link: https://suno.com/Source snippet
Suno | AI Music GeneratorCreate stunning original music for free in seconds using our AI generator. Make your own masterpieces, share wit...
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Source: reuters.com
Link: https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/copyright-law-2025-courts-begin-draw-lines-around-ai-training-piracy-market-harm–pracin-2026-03-16/Source snippet
Copyright Law in 2025: Courts begin to draw lines around...16 Mar 2026 — Both Suno and Udio have also moved to dismiss DMCA claims, argu...
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Source: theverge.com
Title: The Verge AI music startups say copyright violation is just rock and roll
Link: https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/2/24211842/ai-music-riaa-copyright-lawsuit-suno-udio-fair-useSource snippet
The lawsuits claim that Suno and Udio unlawfully used copyrighted sound recordings to train their music-generating AI models. The RIAA se...
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Source: musicbusinessworldwide.com
Link: https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/as-suno-and-udio-admit-training-ai-with-unlicensed-music-record-industry-says-theres-nothing-fair-about-stealing-an-artists-lifes-work/Source snippet
As Suno and Udio admit training AI with unlicensed...5 Aug 2024 — Controversial AI music startups Suno and Udio were sued by the major r...
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Source: musicbusinessworldwide.com
Link: https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/suno-argues-none-of-the-millions-of-tracks-made-on-its-platform-contain-anything-like-a-sample/Source snippet
Suno argues none of the millions of tracks made on its...26 Aug 2025 — In August 2024, both Suno and Udio argued that their use of copyr...
Published: August 2024
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Source: musicbusinessworldwide.com
Link: https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/umg-and-sony-seek-to-add-61000-copyrighted-works-to-suno-lawsuit-after-discovery-reveals-suno-trained-on-millions-of-their-recordings/Source snippet
Music Business WorldwideUMG and Sony seek to add over 61k recordings to Suno...3 days ago — UMG and Sony seek to add over 61k recordings...
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Source: musicbusinessworldwide.com
Link: https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/suno-moves-to-keep-size-of-its-ai-training-data-sealed-in-umg-and-sonys-copyright-case-citing-competitive-harm/Source snippet
Suno moves to keep size of its AI training data sealed in...2 days ago — The filing makes clear that Suno is not attempting to seal the...
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Source: wsj.com
Title: Wall Street Journal Universal Music Settles With AI Firm Udio
Link: https://www.wsj.com/business/media/universal-music-settles-with-ai-firm-udio-c926ca39Source snippet
As part of the agreement, Udio will launch a licensed subscription-based music creation platform in 2026, allowing users to remix and cus...
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Source: musicbusinessworldwide.com
Link: https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/udio-admits-to-scraping-youtube-audio-for-ai-training-in-answer-to-sony-music-lawsuit/Source snippet
Udio admits to scraping YouTube audio for AI training in...6 days ago — In August 2024, Udio and Suno pretty much admitted that they use...
Published: August 2024
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Source: musicbusinessworldwide.com
Title: SUNO response to copyright suit
Link: https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/files/2024/08/SUNO-response-to-copyright-suit.pdfSource snippet
Case 1:24-cv-11611-FDS Document 28 Filed 08/01/...by AOFD SUNO — The only act that Plaintiffs contend was unlawful is Suno's allegedly h...
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Source: Wikipedia
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UdioSource snippet
UdioUdio is a generative artificial intelligence model that produces music based on simple text prompts. It can generate vocals and in...
Additional References
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Source: facebook.com
Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1118818620292019/posts/1223937603113453/Source snippet
RIAA targeting Suno and music creatorsThe RIAA will not stop at destroying just Udio, Suno is the one that they really want, and they wil...
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Source: instagram.com
Link: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DV1bH9SEfes/Source snippet
Setting the record straight on "Fair Use" and "A.I. training...RIAA SUES SUNO AND UDIO for allegedly training AI models using copyrighte...
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Source: theplayground.co.uk
Link: https://theplayground.co.uk/suno-announces-updates-amid-ongoing-legal-battles/Source snippet
Suno Announces Updates Amid Ongoing Legal BattlesBoth Suno and rival Udio have acknowledged training their AI on copyrighted music, maint...
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Source: completemusicupdate.com
Link: https://completemusicupdate.com/suno-doesnt-understand-copyright-law-and-is-wrong-about-stream-ripping-rules-say-major-labels/Source snippet
Suno doesn't understand copyright law and is wrong about...22 Oct 2025 — Not only is Suno wrong to claim that AI training is fair use un...
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Source: reddit.com
Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenAI/comments/1dni56e/record_labels_sue_suno_and_udio_over_aigenerated/ -
Source: musiccreator.ai
Link: https://www.musiccreator.ai/udio -
Source: completemusicupdate.com
Link: https://completemusicupdate.com/first-major-ruling-on-ai-and-fair-use-goes-against-the-copyright-industries-though-with-a-silver-lining-relating-to-pirated-training-content/Source snippet
First major ruling on AI and fair use goes against the copyright...25 Jun 2025 — A judge has ruled in a legal battle between a group of...
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Source: transparencycoalition.ai
Title: ai music startup suno admits to using copyrighted music but says its fair use
Link: https://www.transparencycoalition.ai/news/ai-music-startup-suno-admits-to-using-copyrighted-music-but-says-its-fair-useSource snippet
AI music startup Suno admits to using copyrighted...7 Aug 2025 — AI music startup Suno has admitted that its AI model is trained on copy...
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Source: completemusicupdate.com
Title: suno says indie musicians copyright claims about its ais output are bogus
Link: https://completemusicupdate.com/suno-says-indie-musicians-copyright-claims-about-its-ais-output-are-bogus/Source snippet
Suno says indie musician's copyright claims about its AI's...20 Aug 2025 — In June, independent artist Anthony Justice sued AI company S...
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Source: youtube.com
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPufLa1Lml4Source snippet
SHOCKING Copyright AI Training Report l Lawyer ReactsAI Training on Copyrighted Data Is in Trouble... Massive Suno v5.5 UPDATE — The Cop...
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