Artists Can Still Join Suno and Udio Copyright Suits — Here’s How

Photo Credit: Zalfa Imani

Universal Music and Warner Music are settling with AI giants, but the artist-led complaints against Suno and Udio are moving full steam ahead. Meanwhile, eligible musicians can join the ongoing cases by filling out a simple form.

Artists including but certainly not limited to Tony Justice are already part of the class actions, which accuse Suno as well as Udio of committing “an unconscionable attack on the music community’s most vulnerable and valuable creators.”

Among other things, that attack refers to the AI music generators’ alleged stream ripping, unauthorized training on protected works, and pumping out soundalike tracks at the expense of indie artists.

Furthermore, in the absence of any training compensation whatsoever, these professionals “remain sidelined, unrepresented, and deprived of a meaningful remedy,” per the suits. And the far-from-ideal reality definitely hasn’t changed as a result of major label licensing deals (and settlements) with Suno and Udio.

Despite those deals, the artist-led Suno and Udio suits are alive and well, with millions of dollars on the line.

Spearheading both the technically separate cases, entertainment attorney Krystle Delgado told us that eligible parties can still join. And in the process, they’ll position themselves to secure a piece of the pie in the event of a trial victory or settlement.

As mentioned, there’s a to-the-point plaintiff form through which creatives can request to be added to both suits.

According to the actual legal text, one proposed class would cover all individuals and entities who own U.S.-registered compositions and/or recordings “made available on internet-based streaming services since January 1, 2021.”

Another class would zero in on alleged DMCA violations – stemming from the above-highlighted alleged stream ripping of tracks from YouTube for training, that is – and a different proposed subclass would pertain to international creators, to name a couple more.

In short: the cases look to have space for pretty much everyone who’s released music during the past five years. As such, now appears to be an ideal time to join the high-stakes suits – and not solely because of the potential compensation at stake.

Veteran producer DJ Pain 1 effectively summed up the situation by noting the lack of creative/rightsholder training consent and the fact that generative models wouldn’t exist if they hadn’t mass-ingested data including protected music.

“AI cannot ‘create’ without our music,” said DJ Pain 1. “We never consented to having our music used to build a multi-billion dollar technology. We have not been asked, we have not been paid, but we have been robbed, disrespected and mocked by rich technocrats. This fight is bigger than music.”