Photo Credit: Tingey Injury Law Firm
Is Sony Music Entertainment (SME) going the distance in its Udio legal battle? And will additional Suno settlements follow the resolution of Warner Music’s claims? At least for now, evidence suggests that both cases will plow ahead into the new year.
That evidence just recently arrived in the form of new filings from the remaining litigants, which are clashing over the AI music generators’ alleged copyright infringement. Most are aware of these suits’ brass tacks, similar complaints levied by musicians themselves, and the Udio settlements finalized by Universal Music Group (UMG) and Warner Music Group (WMG) alike.
The latter resolutions ushered in sweeping changes at Udio, which, to the dismay of users, several of whom are describing the platform as “dead” on Reddit, has already put a stop to downloads. And with additional Udio pivots in the cards for 2026, some assumed, not without reason, that Sony Music would soon follow its fellow majors in settling.
But as we reported, that wasn’t so out of the gate and still isn’t the case. In fact, it was earlier in December that Sony Music and Udio counsel jointly submitted a proposed protective order designed to prevent the public disclosure of sensitive materials.
Seemingly penned by parties gearing up for intensive discovery, said protective order (which Judge Alvin Hellerstein approved last week) expanded on a January 2025 order and, among different things, brought with it a “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – SOURCE CODE” designation.
Though the approaching months will reveal precisely what this process entails, now’s a good a time as any to reiterate the commercial ascent of Haven’s “I Run.” When it first released – before human artist Kaitlin Aragon contributed vocals for a new version – the viral track allegedly featured an unauthorized AI soundalike voice closely resembling that of Jorja Smith.
And Smith, as we noted, has a deal with Sony Music’s The Orchard. In short, then, it certainly appears that SME would like to take a peek under Udio’s hood with an eye on training and the materials incorporated into outputs.
Furthermore, Suno was technically used to pump out “I Run” – meaning that SME is presumably eager to investigate the service’s own training and output particulars as well.
The same also looks to be true for Universal Music, which, as mentioned, Warner Music-Suno settlement or not, is continuing to litigate.
Warner Music previously provided a dismissal stipulation that would see it drop the complaint with prejudice. However, the litigants (including WMG, pending the stipulation’s approval) yesterday submitted a joint motion seeking to delay discovery deadlines, including by pushing a fact discovery cutoff to at least early March 2026.
“[D]iscovery is ongoing, and both parties have outstanding disputes,” they noted of the involved undertaking.
Translation: UMG and SME are moving forward with their Suno showdown. This doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise – contrasting Udio’s abrupt downloads cutoff, Suno and Warner Music only disclosed plans for “download restrictions in certain scenarios”– but it’s noteworthy heading into 2026.
Meanwhile, Suno and Udio are still grappling with several suits levied by and on behalf of indies. Artists can request to join two of the complaints (one against Udio, the other against Suno) by filling out a simple form.
