UMG & Sony Hit Suno With New Lawsuit After Label-Backed Model: ‘Fruit of the Same Poisoned Tree’
Suno says its new model is a way to "move forward together" with the music business, but UMG and Sony say it's still "trampling" the rights of human artists.
Major music labels Universal Music Group and Sony Music have filed a fresh lawsuit against AI music generation company Suno, alleging that the company's new AI model is essentially "fruit of the same poisoned tree" as its previous models. This comes just a week after Suno unveiled its latest AI model in partnership with several big music companies, including Warner Music Group.
The lawsuit accuses Suno of continuing to unlawfully use copyrighted material despite signing licensing agreements with the music industry. The labels argue that Suno's new AI model, v6, still relies on data and interactions from its older models, rather than starting from a clean slate. They claim Suno's CEO Mikey Shulman's own statements about the data used to train the new model and his dismissal of the human labor of making music further demonstrate the company's unwillingness to fairly compensate artists.
The lawsuit reiterates previous claims that Suno's business model fundamentally conflicts with copyright law, which exists to encourage and reward human creativity. UMG, Sony, and Warner Music had previously sued Suno in 2024, with one settlement reached in November. Both lawsuits center on the contentious issue of using copyrighted material to train AI models, with rights holders contending it violates copyright law on an industrial scale, while AI companies argue they are utilizing the works in a way that falls under fair use.
Written by urgent.news from Billboard's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
