Photo Credit: Romain Dancre
With days remaining in 2025 – and despite Warner Music’s Suno settlement – the legal paperwork is continuing to fly between the AI platform as well as Universal Music Group (UMG) and Sony Music Entertainment (SME).
This latest indication of a protracted courtroom confrontation arrived in the form of a signed-and-sealed confidentiality order. Just recently approved by the magistrate judge, the modified order will afford both sides quite a bit of discretion to block the public disclosure of potentially sensitive discovery materials.
While unfortunate for us, the development is shedding a bit of light on where the case will head in the new year. At the top level, the basic confidential label will enable any of the involved attorneys to designate documents concerning “information that is competitive, proprietary, trade secret or otherwise sensitive non-public information.”
Then there’s a distinct “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” designation for particularly sensitive documents, besides, among others, a “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – SOURCE CODE” option.
The latter is, of course, self-explanatory – and seemingly indicative of a rigorous 2026 discovery process. Furthermore, though settlements can materialize rather quickly, a detail-oriented modified protective order doesn’t exactly point to an imminent resolution, especially given the existence of a (heretofore rejected by SME and UMG) licensing foundation in Warner Music’s pact.
At least for now, evidence strongly suggests that said pact will drive far-reaching changes at Suno in the new year as the other majors litigate against the AI platform.
Important on multiple levels, the difficult positioning is worth considering from the angle of Udio’s licensing agreements with Universal Music and Warner Music. Even without the pressure of continued litigation from those two majors (Sony Music appears inclined to go the distance), the platform’s future is uncertain in the face of a) massive operational changes and b) corresponding customer criticism.
Already, Suno is grappling with firmly worded pushback from ticked-off users – a significant reality ahead of 2026’s possible legal-battle fireworks and terms pivot.
Notably, these fireworks could stem from different litigation as well. To be sure, the proposed class actions filed against Suno and Udio by artists including Tony Justice are moving forward. So are two other complaints levied by musicians; in the action against Suno, the defendant has until January 13th to file its anticipated dismissal motion.
