KEY POINTS:
- Warner Music Group settled its copyright lawsuit against Suno in November 2025 and announced a licensing partnership, according to Rolling Stone
- Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment continue to litigate against Suno, with legal filings intensifying in late 2025, per Digital Music News
- The labels originally accused Suno of “stream-ripping” recordings from YouTube to train its AI models without authorization, The Fader reported
- Suno secured $250 million in funding at a $2.45 billion valuation just before the Warner settlement, according to The Hollywood Reporter
- Ethical AI music platforms like iMused.ai have launched with artist-first compensation models, offering automatic royalty splits and attribution, per PR Newswire
The once-united front of major record labels against AI music generator Suno has fractured, with Warner Music Group exiting the landmark copyright lawsuit to partner with the company while Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment press forward with litigation that could reshape the music industry’s relationship with artificial intelligence.
Warner Music Group announced on November 25, 2025 that it had settled its portion of the lawsuit and would collaborate with Suno on developing licensed AI music models, according to Rolling Stone. The deal makes Warner the first major label to formally partner with Suno, which claims to have attracted 100 million users to its platform.
The settlement followed Suno’s announcement of a $250 million funding round that valued the company at $2.45 billion, The Hollywood Reporter reported. The round was led by Menlo Ventures and included participation from NVIDIA’s venture arm.
Origins of the Legal Battle
The Recording Industry Association of America filed the original lawsuits in June 2024 on behalf of all three major labels against both Suno and rival platform Udio, accusing them of mass copyright infringement. The RIAA alleged the companies had trained their AI models on copyrighted recordings without permission, a practice the AI companies defended as fair use.
The labels’ amended complaint, filed in September 2025, accused Suno of acquiring training data by illegally downloading music from YouTube through stream-ripping, according to Music Business Worldwide. The complaint cited evidence suggesting Suno bypassed YouTube’s anti-piracy encryption to obtain recordings.
Suno filed a motion to dismiss in early October 2025, arguing that stream-ripping does not violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, The Fader reported. The labels responded by asserting that Suno circumvented YouTube’s encryption specifically designed to prevent unauthorized downloads.
Settlement Terms and Artist Concerns
Under the Warner settlement, Suno will develop new models trained on licensed music from Warner’s catalog, with current models to be phased out, the Copyright Alliance reported. Artists and songwriters will have opt-in control over whether their names, images, likenesses, voices, and compositions can be used in AI-generated music.
Downloads will continue for paid Suno users, though with monthly limits yet to be announced. Suno also acquired the concert-discovery platform Songkick from Warner as part of the deal, according to Rolling Stone.
However, artist advocates have expressed caution about the wave of settlements. The Music Artists Coalition, founded by manager Irving Azoff, questioned the terms of recent AI deals in a statement. According to Rolling Stone, Azoff warned that artists could end up with minimal compensation despite talk of partnership.
Remaining Litigation
Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment remain in active litigation against Suno, with court filings continuing through late December 2025, Digital Music News reported. Sony Music has also indicated it will continue its lawsuit against Udio despite that company’s settlements with Universal and Warner.
The lawsuit against Udio has also seen partial resolution. Universal Music Group settled with Udio in late October 2025, followed by Warner’s own settlement in November, according to Billboard. Only Sony Music’s claims against Udio remain active.
Suno faces additional legal pressure internationally. The Danish rights organization Koda filed a copyright lawsuit against Suno in Copenhagen City Court in November 2025, and Germany’s GEMA collection society filed suit in January 2025, the Copyright Alliance noted.
The Rise of Ethical AI Platforms
The legal battles have created an opening for platforms positioning themselves as artist-friendly alternatives. iMused.ai launched in August 2025 billing itself as the first ethical AI music platform, according to PR Newswire.
The platform, developed by 144K Collective and 9th Ward Production and Promotions Company, offers automatic royalty splits of 10 to 20 percent to artists whose styles inspire AI-generated tracks, along with official co-producer credits. The company requires Performing Rights Organization registration and public attribution through a ledger system for all commercial releases.
The platform uses what it calls Musical DNA Technology to analyze an artist’s vocals, harmonies, chord progressions, and lyrics across multiple dimensions before generating new songs. iMused.ai claims users can create studio-quality songs in approximately three minutes; and the artists’ whose style influenced the song creation get credited and paid if a sound recording is created by either AI generators or actual human musicians.
The 144K Collective operates as a social impact venture, with 90 percent of profits reinvested into community initiatives rather than traditional profit distribution, PR Newswire reported. Co-founders Shakara Weston and Jay Davis partnered with brand ambassador firm “Good Goddess Almighty” and presented the platform at the NEXTEN Summit in Dakar in December 2025, demonstrating its capabilities to an audience focused on AI and digital development.
Other platforms have also pursued licensed approaches. Wondera announced a partnership with SourceAudio in June 2025 to train its models on over 14 million fully-cleared tracks, according to PR Newswire. ElevenLabs expanded into AI music through deals with publisher Kobalt and indie licensing agency Merlin, Music Ally reported.
Industry Implications
The music industry’s approach to AI is evolving rapidly. Music Ally’s year-end analysis noted that 2025 saw both settlement activity and continued uncertainty over whether training AI on copyrighted works constitutes fair use under U.S. law.
The outcome of the remaining Suno litigation could establish precedents affecting the broader AI industry. Similar questions about training data and fair use are at the center of lawsuits against AI companies from book authors, news organizations, and visual artists.
For now, the split among major labels suggests the industry has not reached consensus on whether to fight or embrace generative AI music. Universal and Sony’s decision to continue litigation while Warner pursues partnership reflects a fundamental disagreement about the appropriate response to technology that can produce convincing imitations of human-created music.
This is a developing story. Information may be incomplete and will be updated as more details become available.
