The Recording Industry Association of America's case against generative music services Suno and Udio is the defining 2026 fight over whether training a model on someone else's recordings infringes copyright.
In May 2026 Sony Music and Universal Music Group moved to expand the case from its original 560 recordings to more than 61,000. If granted, statutory damages could exceed $9 billion.
What it means for an artist. The dispute is not about whether AI may be used, but about what a model learns from and who gets paid for it. If the plaintiffs' position holds, unlicensed training becomes a paid activity — and some of that money should reach rightsholders.