Warner Music sued Suno, then signed a licensing deal

In short: Big music companies are split between suing AI music maker Suno and making licensing deals, and Warner Music Group has done both.

What's going on

In 2024, several of the biggest record companies sued Suno and another AI music company called Udio. These lawsuits included Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group. They argued that the companies used copyrighted songs to train their AI systems without permission.

Training an AI model is like teaching a student by showing them lots of examples. The fight is over whether those examples included protected music, and whether that use was allowed.

Warner is a notable case because it changed course. After suing Suno in 2024, Warner later settled the dispute and entered a licensing partnership with Suno in November 2025. A licensing deal is basically permission to use music, usually in exchange for payment and rules about how it can be used.

Other major labels have not followed Warner’s path so far. Recent reports say Sony and Universal are still in active litigation with Suno. In July 2026, Reuters also reported that a German court found Suno violated copyrights in a case brought by GEMA, Germany’s music collecting society.

New claims are also still being filed. In August 2026, Round Hill Music sued Suno and Anthropic, accusing them of misusing hundreds of songs to train AI systems.

What to watch

More labels may choose a deal instead of a long court fight, but ongoing rulings, including outside the US, could shape what licensing looks like and how much it costs. Watch whether Sony and Universal settle, and whether more rights groups bring cases that limit how AI music tools can be trained.

Source: NYTimes