Sony Music Entertainment v. Uncharted Labs, Inc.

On 20 July 2026, Sony Music Entertainment and ten affiliated record labels filed a Complaint in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York against Uncharted Labs, Inc. (Udio). The Plaintiffs seek damages for copyright infringement alleging that Udio copied hundreds of thousands of copyrighted sound recordings without authorisation to train its generative AI music service.

This action follows an earlier suit filed on 24 June 2024. In responding to that original action, Udio admitted copying and ingesting vast numbers of recordings from YouTube, including Plaintiffs' works, but refused to identify specific recordings used in training. When the Plaintiffs sought to amend the original complaint with additional works identified through forensic analysis, the court denied leave but expressly recognised the Plaintiffs' right to pursue damages for all copyrighted works in a separate action. The current complaint identifies various sound recordings obtained through unlawful stream-ripping from YouTube, circumventing technological protection measures.

The Plaintiffs bring claims for direct copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 106(1) and circumvention of technological measures under 17 U.S.C. § 1201(a).

This summary is provided for educational and research purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Allegations described are those made in the filings. Please consult the underlying source documents.