Woulard v. Suno, Inc.

David Woulard and nine other plaintiffs have commenced proceedings against Suno, Inc. in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleging systematic copyright infringement and related violations. The complaint asserts that Suno built its commercial music-generation platform by copying and storing works by independent artists without permission, contending that this conduct constitutes unauthorised reproduction of copyrighted sound recordings and musical compositions. According to the pleadings, Suno maintains a centralised library of music files obtained from online sources to train and operate AI models that produce competing musical outputs. The claim further alleges that Suno copied and indexed lyrics from databases including Genius and AZLyrics without securing necessary licences, and collected biometric identifiers from human performances without compliance with Illinois privacy legislation.

Claims advanced include direct copyright infringement, contributory and vicarious infringement, violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, breaches of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act and Right of Publicity Act, deceptive trade practices, and unjust enrichment. The Plaintiffs seek damages and injunctive relief, asserting causes of action in tort, statute, and equity, emphasising particular harm to independent musicians lacking major label protection. This is one of several cases filed against Sono alleging copyright infringement and these Plaintiffs assert that this case "serves as an essential test of whether technological progress can ethically and legally coexist with fundamental protections that foster human creativity." (Complaint, para. 13)

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.