What happened
Sony Music Entertainment filed a new lawsuit in New York against AI music generator Udio on Monday, claiming it infringed the copyright of more than 30,000 of its songs—including tracks by Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Elvis Presley, Harry Styles, and others. Sony says it identified these songs using an 'audio fingerprinting' technique after gaining access to Udio's training data through discovery in a 2024 lawsuit.
Why it matters
This marks Sony's second major legal action against Udio. A judge previously rejected Sony's bid to add these 30,000 songs to the original 2024 lawsuit (which covered 333 works), so Sony is now pursuing them separately. The company is seeking up to $150,000 per work infringed, raising the financial stakes significantly. Meanwhile, competitors Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group have settled with Udio and now partner with the company, leaving Sony as the holdout pursuing enforcement.
What to watch
Sony says it could expand the list of songs beyond the 30,000 in this filing. The company is asking the court to block Udio from infringing its works. The full list of songs in dispute is available in the court filing.
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Sony's new lawsuit reflects a wider split in the music industry's approach to AI music generators. In the original 2024 case, Sony joined Universal Music Group and Warner Records in challenging both Udio and Suno. However, after a judge rejected Sony's request to include more than 30,000 additional songs in that original litigation, the company has pursued a separate filing to recover damages on those tracks. Meanwhile, Sony's former co-plaintiffs have moved in the opposite direction: both Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group have settled with Udio and now partner with the company, suggesting they have concluded that licensing agreements are more profitable than litigation. Sony's decision to continue enforcement—and its statement that the current 30,000-song list could be expanded—indicates the company is taking a harder line on copyright protection in the AI music space.
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