Sony Music Entertainment on Monday filed a new lawsuit against artificial intelligence startup Udio, alleging it infringed on more than 30,000 recordings.
Sony said Udio ripped off music recordings from YouTube without Sony’s permission to train AI models. Users on Udio can type prompts describing the type of song they wish to create. Sony says Udio’s platform is capable of producing audio similar to copyrighted recordings.
“Since the day it launched, Udio has flouted the rights of copyright owners in the music industry as part of a mad dash to become the dominant AI music generation service,” Sony said in its lawsuit. “Neither Udio, nor any other generative AI company, can be allowed to advance toward this goal by trampling the rights of copyright owners.”
The new lawsuit increases the number of copyrighted recordings Sony is accusing Udio of infringing. The company said such works include music by artists such as Alicia Keys, Dolly Parton and Elvis Presley.
Sony in 2024 had sued Udio, alongside other businesses including Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group. Since then, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group have made deals with Udio to license their music, with artists choosing whether to opt in.
“As observed in the intervening time since Plaintiffs initiated the original lawsuit against Udio, when those who develop such a service steal copyrighted sound recordings, the service’s synthetic musical outputs inevitably saturate the market with machine-generated content that will compete with, cheapen, and ultimately drown out the genuine sound recordings on which the service is built,” Sony said in its lawsuit.
Sony is seeking up to $150,000 per work infringed or the actual amount of damages or Udio’s profits made from the infringement, as well as other damages and costs.
Udio did not immediately return a request for comment.
The company said in response to the 2024 lawsuit that it stands by its technology and that it is “uninterested in reproducing content in our training set.”
“Generative AI models, including our music model, learn from examples,” Udio said at the time. “Just as students listen to music and study scores, our model has ‘listened’ to and learned from a large collection of recorded music.”
As AI technology continues to evolve, many Hollywood creatives have grown concerned about how their work is being used to train AI models without their permission and compensation. Meanwhile, proponents of AI say that it can help entertainment companies save money in areas such as visual effects and test bold ideas.
Some entertainment companies including Disney and Universal have sued AI companies alleging copyright infringement, whereas other companies such as “Hunger Games” studio Lionsgate have partnered with AI startup Runway. Lionsgate has equity in Runway as part of its expanded partnership.
Sony and UMG still have ongoing lawsuits against AI startup Suno.
