The legal friction between major record labels and generative AI developers has reached a new boiling point. Sony Music, acting in concert with nine of its subsidiary labels, has initiated a fresh legal challenge against the AI music generation platform Udio. According to reports from Music Business Worldwide<\/i> (MBW<\/i>)<\/a>, the core of this new complaint centers on the unauthorized use of over 30,000 copyrighted sound recordings to train the company\u2019s machine learning models.<\/p>\n ### A Growing Pattern of Litigation ### Uncovering the Scale of Data Misuse The labels argue that this figure is merely the tip of the iceberg. They contend that Udio intentionally obscured the composition of its training data to avoid scrutiny, effectively “scraping” the expressive nuances and structural signatures of professional recordings to teach its AI how to mimic human artistry.<\/p>\n
\nThis latest filing serves as an expansion of the broader industry pushback against AI-driven music tools. It arrives on the heels of a significant June 2024 lawsuit involving Sony Music, Universal Music, and Warner Music<\/a>. That initial action targeted both Udio and its primary competitor, Suno, alleging that these platforms built their generative capabilities on the backs of massive, unlicensed datasets containing protected intellectual property.<\/p>\n
\nThe new complaint, submitted on Monday, July 20, provides a more granular look at the alleged infringement. By conducting a forensic audit of Udio\u2019s training datasets, Sony\u2019s legal team identified 30,117 specific audio files that were reportedly ingested without permission. <\/p>\n