AFM Sues Universal Music, Warner Music Over Suno & Udio Deals

Photo Credit: Tim Toomey

The major labels are anticipating big things, in terms of revenue and otherwise, from their Suno and Udio agreements. But according to a new AFM lawsuit, they’ve also “failed to share in the settlement proceeds and future revenue with those same artists whose music was copied” by the AI audio platforms.

The American Federation of Musicians (AFM) submitted its breach of contract suit to a New York federal court today. Spanning 16 relatively straightforward pages, the complaint names Universal Music and Warner Music – but not Sony Music, which hasn’t settled with Suno or Udio – as defendants.

As many know, Universal Music’s settled with Udio, while Warner Music Group (WMG) has opted to license both Udio and Suno. Udio is preparing to capitalize on the pacts with a fresh product, and WMG brass haven’t hesitated to note their tall expectations for the Suno partnership.

Where does all this leave AFM musicians? Out of luck, according to the action, which maintains that the defendant labels “have failed and refused to provide compensation to musicians for the AI exploitation of recordings on which they worked or performed.”

Per the suit, said compensation is due to the professionals under the AFM’s “binding” Sound Recording Labor Agreement (SRLA) with the majors. In keeping with its title, the SRLA covers AFM members’ contributions to recordings and, via Article 21, purportedly entitles these members to a piece of the pie from any “new use” of the involved works.

As laid out in the complaint, gen AI licensing, complete with authorized training and derivative outputs, allegedly constitutes a new use as described in the labor contract.

(A substantial portion of the legal text emphasizes as much by quoting Warner Music’s and Universal Music’s own firmly worded, and since-resolved, allegations against Suno and Udio.)

Even so, as initially mentioned, Universal Music and Warner Music have allegedly “failed to share in the settlement proceeds…despite their self-congratulatory claims of protecting those same artists” whose works were allegedly scraped.

Have there been any concrete discussions about possible payments? The suit is light on details in this department, but the short answer appears to be “no.”

Among different things, the defendant majors “have not provided the AFM with the names of artists who appeared or worked on recordings that have been licensed to or otherwise obtained by Suno and Udio,” one relevant line reads.

Regarding sought relief, the AFM is seeking a declaration that Universal Music and Warner Music violated the above-described collective bargaining agreement – besides pushing to receive damages and attorneys’ fees.

In the bigger picture, are similar complaints forthcoming? Time will tell, though the Klay Vision- and Spotify-partnered majors have certainly inked different AI licensing deals as well.