Sony Music Entertainment has filed a new lawsuit against AI music generator Udio, alleging the startup illegally copied more than 30,000 songs, including tracks from Beyoncé, Harry Styles and Elvis Presley, to train its models. The Sony Music lawsuit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, adds a fresh legal front to a fight that started in June 2024.
Sony first sued Udio and rival AI music generator Suno in June 2024, joined by labels Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. In the new complaint, Sony says discovery turned up 30,117 tracks in Udio’s training data that weren’t part of the original suit. U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein denied Sony’s request to add those tracks to the existing case last month, prompting the label to file a separate lawsuit to cover them.
What the Sony Music lawsuit alleges
Sony argues that copying protected recordings to build a commercial product like Udio’s requires permission from rightsholders. “Foundational principles of copyright law dictate that copying protected sound recordings for the purpose of developing a commercial AI product like Udio’s requires permission from rightsholders,” the company said in its complaint. “Otherwise, such AI offerings will erode the value of the artistic works that comprise the essential raw materials that allow them to function in the first place.”
Udio has not responded to the new suit. In an April response to Sony’s original complaint, the company acknowledged training its models on copyrighted songs uploaded to YouTube. It argued the process qualifies as fair use, describing it as a back-end technological process that produces what it called an ultimately non-infringing new product.
Universal and Warner already settled
Since the original 2024 case, both Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group have settled their claims against Udio and signed licensing deals with the startup. Udio is preparing an industry-backed model for release later this year. Sony and Universal are still pursuing separate litigation against Suno. Sony argues those settlements prove Udio could have licensed its catalog rather than allegedly pulling tracks from YouTube.
The dispute lands as media and entertainment companies work out how to engage with AI tools while protecting their copyrighted material. That group spans Hollywood studios, record labels and news organizations. Sony frames its case as a test of whether that balance can hold. The label says protecting copyright is what has incentivized human invention for centuries, and argues that “it does require that Udio adhere to copyright law and respect the creators whose works allow it to function in the first place.”
Sony is seeking at least $150,000 for each work infringed. It is also asking the court to block Udio from using its music to train future models. Representatives for Sony and Udio had not responded to requests for comment as of publication.