Notice of Filing Update: A new legal filing was processed on July 24 in this matter to correct the proper corporate name of the Warner entity party to the lawsuit, changing the named defendant from Warner Music Group to Warner Records, the official signatory to the Sound Recording Labor Agreement (SRLA). To be clear, the AFM has not dropped its lawsuit against Warner Records. 

NEW YORK, NY — The American Federation of Musicians of the US and Canada(AFM) has filed a federal lawsuit June 5, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against major record labels—including Universal Music Group, Atlantic Recording Corp., and Warner Records—for failing to compensate musicians and notify the union after licensing their vast recording catalogs to artificial intelligence platforms Suno and Udio. 

The suit alleges that the record companies breached the Sound Recording Labor Agreement (SRLA), the collective bargaining agreement with the AFM that protects performing musicians. Under the long-standing “new use” provision of the SRLA, whenever music recorded under the agreement is repurposed or licensed for a new format—such as a pop song or symphonic work used in a television commercial or video game—the label is legally required to notify the AFM and pay “new use” compensation to the musicians who performed on those original tracks. The AFM contends that licensing recorded music for AI model training and music generation falls squarely under this rule.

Suno and Udio operate platforms that allow users to instantly generate tracks—complete with vocals and instrumentation—from simple text prompts, and market those songs directly onto streaming services like Spotify. Ironically, the same record companies sued Suno and Udio for copyright infringement in 2024, warning in court that AI platforms risked “replacing the work of human artists” by producing music designed to evoke iconic hits like Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” and James Brown’s “I Got You (I Feel Good).”

Despite these stark public warnings, the record labels subsequently entered into settlement and licensing agreements with the AI companies. Warner Records and Atlantic Recording Corp. settled with both Suno and Udio, while Universal Music Group settled with Udio. These settlements granted the platforms catalog access for AI training and music creation in exchange for substantial compensation covering both licensing fees and past copyright violations.

“Record labels built multi-million-dollar AI deals on the backs of our members, yet the artists whose life’s work powered these technologies haven’t received a single dime,” said AFM International President Tino Gagliardi. “The labels cannot pocket massive payouts while cutting working musicians out of the equation. This lawsuit is about transparency, accountability, and ensuring our artists receive every cent of the ‘new use’ royalties guaranteed to them under our collective bargaining agreement.”