Sony Music Files New Lawsuit Naming 30,000 Songs Allegedly Copied by Udios AI
Sony Music Entertainment filed a new copyright infringement suit against the AI music‑generation platform Udio on Monday, July 20, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The complaint lists more than 30,000 specific sound recordings that Sony claims were used without permission to train Udio’s generative model.
The filing names tracks that span seven decades of popular music, including Elvis Presley’s 1956 hit “Hound Dog,” Beyoncé’s 2002 R&B single “Say My Name,” and Harry Styles’ 2023 chart‑topper “As It Was.” Each song is identified as a distinct copyright that Udio allegedly infringed. Sony’s attorneys note that the list represents only a “small portion” of the company’s catalog, implying that the total number of infringed recordings could be much larger.
The lawsuit is a separate action from Sony’s original 2024 case against Udio and the AI platform Suno. In that earlier suit, Sony, Universal Music Group and Warner Records sued the two startups for training their models on copyrighted recordings without licensing. A New York federal judge barred Sony from adding additional claims to the 2024 complaint, prompting the company to file the new case.
Udio, founded in December 2023 by former Google DeepMind researchers led by CEO David Ding, released a free beta of its text‑to‑music engine on April 10, 2024. The platform offers paid tiers that unlock advanced features such as audio inpainting. Investors include Andreessen Horowitz and musicians will.i.am and Common.
The new lawsuit follows a series of settlements in the broader AI‑music litigation. Warner Records exited the 2024 case after reaching a licensing agreement with Suno in November 2025, leaving Sony and Universal as the remaining plaintiffs. Sony’s filing lists nine affiliated labels, including Arista Records and LaFace, as co‑plaintiffs.
According to court documents, Sony’s complaint alleges that Udio’s model was trained on the listed recordings without the rights holders’ permission. The filing does not detail the method of data acquisition but cites discovery evidence that the company accessed a large corpus of copyrighted music.
The case is part of a growing legal debate over the use of copyrighted works to train generative AI models. In 2024, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed a lawsuit against Suno in Boston federal court on behalf of Sony, Universal and Warner, seeking statutory damages for the alleged infringement. The AI‑music lawsuits have attracted attention from lawmakers, technology firms and artists.
Sony’s new complaint is the latest development in a series of legal actions that began in June 2024. The company’s filing states that the 30,000 songs are only a fraction of the recordings it claims were used. The implication is that the total scope of alleged infringement could encompass a substantial portion of Sony’s commercial catalog.
The lawsuit is currently pending in federal court. No settlement has been announced, and the parties have not disclosed any potential resolution. The case will proceed through discovery and, if it moves forward, could result in a trial that may set precedent for how record labels protect their catalog against AI training.
The outcome of Sony’s lawsuit could influence the broader AI‑music industry, affecting how startups obtain and use copyrighted material. It may also impact licensing negotiations between major labels and AI developers.
At present, the legal status of the case remains that Sony has filed a new claim in New York federal court, naming over 30,000 songs allegedly used by Udio’s AI without authorization. The next steps will depend on the court’s rulings on discovery and potential motions by the parties.
