Sony sues Udio over 30,117 training recordings

Sony has filed a new lawsuit against AI music generator Udio, alleging that the service used 30,117 sound recordings without permission to train its models. The recordings include songs by Alicia Keys, Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, Beyoncé, Bob Dylan, Britney Spears, and Michael Jackson, among others.

The separate complaint follows Sony’s unsuccessful attempt to add the recordings to an existing case filed in 2024 alongside other major labels. The court rejected the expansion, while leaving plaintiffs free to seek an injunction and compensation for all protected works in separate proceedings. The Verge reports that it has obtained a copy of the track list, while Music Business Worldwide says the list prompted Sony’s new case.

Udio’s training data and licensing deals

Sony also challenges how Udio obtained its training material. The complaint alleges that the service extracted audio recordings from YouTube. Udio previously acknowledged using audio from the platform to train its models, but argued that the activity qualified as fair use.

Udio has since reached licensing agreements with Universal and Warner, two companies that were initially among the plaintiffs. Those deals mark a shift in the music industry, with major rights holders increasingly negotiating catalog access and new payment structures instead of relying solely on litigation. Warner has said such an arrangement could create revenue for artists who choose to participate.

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Sony has not reached a comparable agreement. Its lawsuit argues that Udio’s later move toward licensing only reinforces the alleged illegality of its earlier copying without permission. That leaves Sony with the toughest position among the major labels involved in the dispute.

Sony seeks up to $150,000 per work

Sony is requesting a jury trial and seeking up to $150,000 for each infringed work. Similar claims involving other AI services, including music generators and text models, are already being litigated in the United States, with cases often moving toward lengthy negotiations or costly settlements.

The central legal question is whether companies can train generative models on copyrighted recordings without a separate license. If the court accepts Sony’s position across all 30,117 recordings, the potential damages would be enormous even by technology-litigation standards. For Udio, the case adds pressure after its Universal and Warner deals—and leaves the company defending the legality of its earlier training model against another major rights holder.