Sony brings new Udio copyright suit covering 30,000-plus songs
Sony Music says Udio used thousands of protected recordings to train its AI music tool and is seeking damages of up to $150,000 per work.
By Maya Lindqvist · Senior Technology Correspondent
3 min read
Sony Music Entertainment has filed a new copyright case against Udio, alleging the AI music company infringed more than 30,000 recordings. The case adds pressure to one of the central legal fights over generative AI: whether companies can train models on commercial music without permission.
The complaint was filed Monday in a New York court, according to court documents. Sony says the recordings at issue include songs associated with Elvis Presley, Beyoncé and Harry Styles, including “Hound Dog,” “Say My Name” and “As It Was.” The list also includes songs from Britney Spears, Johnny Cash and many other artists, according to Sony’s filing.
Sony says the catalog named in the lawsuit is “only a small portion of Plaintiffs’ works that Udio infringed,” according to the complaint. The company is asking the court to stop Udio from infringing its works and to award damages of up to $150,000 for each infringed work.
How the new case fits the earlier fight
Sony, Universal Music Group and Warner Records sued Udio in 2024, alongside claims against another AI music company, Suno. In that earlier Udio case, Sony sought to add more than 30,000 additional recordings after reviewing material obtained through discovery, according to Music Business Worldwide and court filings.
Sony says it identified those additional recordings by using audio fingerprinting on Udio’s training data, according to the complaint. The company alleged Udio had copied and ingested the recordings into its generative AI models.
A judge rejected Sony’s request to expand the earlier lawsuit, according to Music Business Worldwide. That left the original case focused on 333 works, rather than the larger group Sony wanted to add.
Sony has now made the larger set of recordings the subject of a separate lawsuit. The company says in the new complaint that it may expand the case further.
Sony points to Udio’s training process
In the new filing, Sony cites Udio’s own description of how its models were built. According to Sony, Udio admitted that its generative AI models were “constructed by showing the program a vast amount of different kinds of sound recordings,” including material from YouTube.
Udio makes tools that generate music from user prompts. Sony’s lawsuit centers on whether the company used protected recordings to train those systems without licensing them from rights holders.
Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group have since reached settlements with Udio, according to prior reports. Both companies are now working with Udio, according to those reports, while Sony continues to pursue its claims in court.
The dispute comes as major music companies test a mixed strategy on AI: suing over alleged unauthorized training while also striking licensing and partnership deals with AI music platforms. Sony’s new filing keeps one of the industry’s most closely watched AI copyright battles active, with a much broader list of recordings now placed before the court.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.