Lawsuit tracker
Labels v. Udio
UMG Recordings, Inc. et al. v. Uncharted Labs, Inc. (d/b/a Udio), No. 1:24-cv-04777 (S.D.N.Y.)
| Plaintiffs | Recorded-music companies of Universal Music Group, Sony Music and Warner Music Group (RIAA-coordinated) at filing; UMG and Warner settled in late 2025, leaving Sony |
|---|---|
| Defendants | Uncharted Labs, Inc. (d/b/a Udio) |
| Court | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York |
| Filed | 2024-06-24 |
| Status | Active |
| Content type | sound recordings |
| Last updated | 2026-07-21 |
The claims
Direct copyright infringement of sound recordings used to train Udio’s music generator; statutory damages of up to $150,000 per work sought at filing.
What has happened
The same label coalition that sued Suno filed a mirror-image case against Udio, the generator publicly associated with the viral “BBL Drizzy” track. The complaint alleged mass unlicensed copying of recordings for training, with outputs that resemble signature artists. The case then split. UMG announced a settlement on October 29, 2025, tied to strategic licensing agreements for a new walled-garden Udio platform trained on licensed catalog and slated to launch in 2026. Warner followed with its own settlement in November 2025. Financial terms were not disclosed in either deal. Sony Music has not settled and continues to litigate, and public reporting indicates the remaining schedule pushes any fair-use decision into 2027. Reporting also notes the American Federation of Musicians has separately sued UMG and Warner over how the Suno and Udio settlements treat musicians; that dispute is distinct from this docket.
Key developments
- 2024-06-24 — Labels file suit in the S.D.N.Y., companion to the Boston case against Suno.
- 2025-10-29 — UMG and Udio announce a settlement plus licensing agreements for a new licensed AI music platform; financial terms undisclosed.
- 2025-11-19 — Warner Music Group announces its own settlement and partnership with Udio, leaving Sony as the sole major-label plaintiff.
- 2026-05 — Tracker and press reporting through spring 2026 describe Sony as the remaining plaintiff, with no fair-use ruling expected before 2027.
Why it matters for training data
Udio is the clearest example of AI copyright litigation converting into a licensing market: two of three majors traded claims for partnership and a licensed product, without waiting for a fair-use ruling. For data buyers, the settlements set a reference structure — retroactive peace plus a forward license tied to a controlled platform. For suppliers, the unsettled Sony claims are the reminder that a partial settlement does not clear the underlying dataset; the same training corpus stays actionable by every rights holder who did not sign.
Sources
- UMG–Udio settlement announcement (PR Newswire)
- Hollywood Reporter on the Warner–Udio settlement
- Billboard FAQ on the UMG–Udio deal
- Chat GPT Is Eating the World: Sony remains in the lawsuit
- Manatt client alert on the UMG AI partnerships
Deeper analysis
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