Universal, Sony File New $9 Billion Lawsuit Against Suno
Universal Music Group and Sony Music sued Suno again on September 18, 2026. They say Suno's new v6 model still relies on songs it copied without permission, and they want up to $150,000 per track across 60,202 recordings, a claim that tops $9 billion.
Not legal advice. This guide explains general rules to help you ask better questions. Laws and platform terms change, so check the official source, like the US Copyright Office's AI guidance, and talk to a lawyer before you sign or release anything that matters.
Universal Music Group and Sony Music filed a new copyright lawsuit against Suno on September 18, 2026, first reported by androidheadlines.com. The 45-page complaint, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, argues that Suno's new v6 model is built on the same unlicensed recordings named in the labels' original 2024 lawsuit against Suno, just carried forward through an extra training step.
This matters for anyone using Suno to write or produce songs. The labels are not suing Suno's users, but a court loss could force changes to what v6 can do, what it costs, or whether it keeps running in its current form. It is also a preview of how major labels plan to challenge every new AI model, even ones built partly on licensed music.
What happened
Universal Music Group (UMG) and Sony Music Entertainment filed a new complaint against Suno on September 18, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, according to Music Business Worldwide. The 45-page complaint names 60,202 recordings the labels say Suno used without a license.
Copyright law allows damages up to $150,000 per work when infringement is found to be willful. Multiplied across 60,202 recordings, that ceiling puts the labels' potential claim above $9 billion, as Variety reported.
The labels argue that Suno's v6 model, released September 9, 2026, does not fix the problem from their original 2024 case. In the complaint, they write that 'v6 is not a fresh start; it is the fruit of the same poisoned tree.' They say training v6 on outputs and preference data from Suno's earlier, unlicensed models just moves the same copied material one step downstream, calling it 'laundering' rather than a clean rebuild.
- Filed September 18, 2026, in U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts
- Complaint names 60,202 recordings
- Statutory damages up to $150,000 per work could total more than $9 billion
- Targets Suno's v6 family, released September 9, 2026
What each side says
Suno disputes the labels' claim. Chief Product Officer Jack Brody told Music Business Worldwide that v6 was trained 'entirely from scratch, from the ground up,' on data that 'doesn't include data from Universal or Sony.' He described the training data as 'a combination of data that's been licensed from these partners, user data, but most importantly, it is the accumulation of the team's learnings from what users are looking for in these models, and other technical breakthroughs and R&D.'
The labels reject that explanation. They argue the 'user data' Brody describes is really outputs and preference signals pulled from Suno's earlier, unlicensed models, so the same copied recordings are still shaping v6. Suno has called the new complaint 'fundamentally flawed,' according to Digital Music News.
Since the labels' original 2024 lawsuit, three other rights holders, Warner Music Group, BMG and Believe, signed licensing deals with Suno. Sony and Universal have not.
What it means for Suno users
Nothing changes for Suno users today. A lawsuit is a claim, not a ruling, and cases like this can take years to work through the courts. Suno's v6, v6-wild and v6-mini models are still live, and the download limits that started September 3, 2026, still apply: 7 lifetime downloads for personal use on the free plan, 20 a month on Pro, and 60 a month on Premier.
If you use Suno for client work or plan to release music commercially, treat this as an open legal question, not a settled one. For a wider view of where AI music tools stand right now, see our AI music trends roundup and our AI music statistics page for adoption and revenue numbers. If you want to compare options while this plays out, our best AI music and video tools list covers the current field.
What happens next
No trial date has been set. Expect Suno to file a formal response in the coming weeks, and expect the case to move slowly through discovery, much like the labels' original 2024 lawsuit has. Watch our weekly AI music news briefing for updates as the case develops and for how other rights holders respond.
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Frequently asked
How much money are Universal and Sony asking for?
The complaint does not list one final number, but U.S. copyright law allows up to $150,000 per work for willful infringement. Multiplied across the 60,202 recordings named in the suit, that ceiling is more than $9 billion, according to [Variety](https://variety.com/2026/music/news/sony-music-universal-music-sue-suno-label-backed-model-1236866921/).
Is it still legal to use Suno?
Yes. No court has ruled against Suno, and the company is still selling subscriptions and running v6, v6-wild and v6-mini. This lawsuit could change that down the line, but nothing has changed for users yet.