Sony Music Entertainment v Uncharted Labs Inc: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 16:24, 7 September 2026

Case Information
Case name	Sony Music Entertainment v. Uncharted Labs Inc^[1]
Court	U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York^[1]
Docket	1:26-cv-06120^[1]
Filed	July 20, 2026^[2]
Judge(s)	Alvin K. Hellerstein^[2]
Plaintiffs	Sony Music Entertainment and nine affiliated recording entities^[1]
Defendants	Uncharted Labs, Inc. (Udio); John Does 1–10^[1]
Case type	Civil copyright action^[1]
Claims / issues	Copyright infringement concerning 30,117 recordings; separate from the 2024 Udio action^[1]
Status	Second action filed July 20, 2026; public docket reviewed through August 31. Later developments have not been verified.^[2]

Sony Music Entertainment v Uncharted Labs Inc is a federal copyright infringement action filed on July 20, 2026, in which Sony Music Entertainment and nine affiliated labels accuse Udio parent Uncharted Labs of using Sony-controlled recordings to train generative-AI models without authorization.^[3]^[4]

Procedural Background

Sony filed the new action after the judge overseeing the original 2024 record-label case declined to permit Sony to add the 30,117 newly identified recordings to that suit.^[3]^[4] The new complaint alleges that the larger catalog could support statutory damages of up to approximately $4.5 billion.^[3]

Significance

The case extends the music industry's litigation over whether copying copyrighted recordings for generative-AI training is fair use and whether an emerging licensing market affects that analysis.^[3]

References

[case-record-d9566c1fa64bd4b0-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 ^1.6 Court filing / case record, reviewed September 7, 2026

[case-record-95aa0e06e5ee0a57-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Case source, reviewed September 7, 2026

[unite-sony-udio-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 Unite.AI, "Sony Music Escalates Copyright Fight With Second Udio Suit" (July 21, 2026)

[msn-sony-udio-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Digital Music News via MSN, "Sony Music fires off supersized infringement lawsuit against Udio" (July 20, 2026)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''''Sony Music Entertainment v Uncharted Labs Inc''''' is a federal copyright infringement action filed on July 20, 2026, in which Sony Music Entertainment and nine affiliated labels accuse Udio parent Uncharted Labs of using Sony-controlled recordings to train generative-AI models without authorization.<ref name="unite-sony-udio">[https://www.unite.ai/sony-music-escalates-copyright-fight-with-second-udio-suit/ Unite.AI, "Sony Music Escalates Copyright Fight With Second Udio Suit" (July 21, 2026)]</ref><ref name="msn-sony-udio">[https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/sony-music-fires-off-supersized-infringement-lawsuit-against-udio/ar-AA28kY48 Digital Music News via MSN, "Sony Music fires off supersized infringement lawsuit against Udio" (July 20, 2026)]</ref>
+<!-- AILawWiki case sidebar v1 -->
+<div class="ailaw-case-layout" style="display:flex;flex-direction:row-reverse;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:1.5em;align-items:flex-start;">
+<div class="ailaw-case-sidebar" style="flex:0 1 22em;max-width:100%;min-width:0;">
-== Case Information ==
+{| class="wikitable ailaw-case-info" style="width:100%;margin:0;"
-{| class="wikitable"
+|+ style="font-size:125%;font-weight:bold;padding:0.5em;" | Case Information
+|-
+! scope="row" style="width:30%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Case name
+| style="vertical-align:top;overflow-wrap:anywhere;" | Sony Music Entertainment v. Uncharted Labs Inc<ref name="case-record-d9566c1fa64bd4b0">[https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.668696/gov.uscourts.nysd.668696.1.0.pdf Court filing / case record, reviewed September 7, 2026]</ref>
+|-
+! scope="row" style="width:30%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Court
+| style="vertical-align:top;overflow-wrap:anywhere;" | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York<ref name="case-record-d9566c1fa64bd4b0" />
+|-
+! scope="row" style="width:30%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Docket
+| style="vertical-align:top;overflow-wrap:anywhere;" | 1:26-cv-06120<ref name="case-record-d9566c1fa64bd4b0" />
 |-
-! Field !! Details
+! scope="row" style="width:30%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Filed
+| style="vertical-align:top;overflow-wrap:anywhere;" | July 20, 2026<ref name="case-record-95aa0e06e5ee0a57">[https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73641108/sony-music-entertainment-v-uncharted-labs-inc/ Case source, reviewed September 7, 2026]</ref>
 |-
-| Case Name || ''Sony Music Entertainment v. Uncharted Labs Inc.''<ref name="unite-sony-udio" />
+! scope="row" style="width:30%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Judge(s)
+| style="vertical-align:top;overflow-wrap:anywhere;" | Alvin K. Hellerstein<ref name="case-record-95aa0e06e5ee0a57" />
 |-
-| Court || Federal court in Manhattan (Southern District of New York)<ref name="unite-sony-udio" />
+! scope="row" style="width:30%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Plaintiffs
+| style="vertical-align:top;overflow-wrap:anywhere;" | Sony Music Entertainment and nine affiliated recording entities<ref name="case-record-d9566c1fa64bd4b0" />
 |-
-| Filed || July 20, 2026<ref name="unite-sony-udio" /><ref name="msn-sony-udio" />
+! scope="row" style="width:30%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Defendants
+| style="vertical-align:top;overflow-wrap:anywhere;" | Uncharted Labs, Inc. (Udio); John Does 1–10<ref name="case-record-d9566c1fa64bd4b0" />
 |-
-| Plaintiffs || Sony Music Entertainment and nine affiliated record labels<ref name="unite-sony-udio" /><ref name="msn-sony-udio" />
+! scope="row" style="width:30%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Case type
+| style="vertical-align:top;overflow-wrap:anywhere;" | Civil copyright action<ref name="case-record-d9566c1fa64bd4b0" />
 |-
-| Defendant || Uncharted Labs Inc., which operates Udio<ref name="unite-sony-udio" />
+! scope="row" style="width:30%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Claims / issues
+| style="vertical-align:top;overflow-wrap:anywhere;" | Copyright infringement concerning 30,117 recordings; separate from the 2024 Udio action<ref name="case-record-d9566c1fa64bd4b0" />
 |-
-| Claims || Copyright infringement involving 30,117 sound recordings allegedly copied for AI training<ref name="unite-sony-udio" /><ref name="msn-sony-udio" />
+! scope="row" style="width:30%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Status
+| style="vertical-align:top;overflow-wrap:anywhere;" | Second action filed July 20, 2026; public docket reviewed through August 31. Later developments have not been verified.<ref name="case-record-95aa0e06e5ee0a57" />
 |}
+</div>
+<div class="ailaw-case-article" style="flex:1 1 28em;min-width:0;overflow-wrap:anywhere;">
+'''''Sony Music Entertainment v Uncharted Labs Inc''''' is a federal copyright infringement action filed on July 20, 2026, in which Sony Music Entertainment and nine affiliated labels accuse Udio parent Uncharted Labs of using Sony-controlled recordings to train generative-AI models without authorization.<ref name="unite-sony-udio">[https://www.unite.ai/sony-music-escalates-copyright-fight-with-second-udio-suit/ Unite.AI, "Sony Music Escalates Copyright Fight With Second Udio Suit" (July 21, 2026)]</ref><ref name="msn-sony-udio">[https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/sony-music-fires-off-supersized-infringement-lawsuit-against-udio/ar-AA28kY48 Digital Music News via MSN, "Sony Music fires off supersized infringement lawsuit against Udio" (July 20, 2026)]</ref>
 == Procedural Background ==
@@ Line 32: / Line 55: @@
 == References ==
 <references />
+</div>
+</div>
+<!-- /AILawWiki case sidebar v1 -->
 [[Category:Copyright Litigation]]
 [[Category:Music Industry]]
 [[Category:Southern District of New York]]

Latest revision as of 16:24, 7 September 2026

Procedural Background

Significance

See Also

References