CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS
vs Suno & Udio
On Behalf Of Independent Artists, Producers, & Songwriters
Independent Music Creator Public Statement
Independent artists and industry leaders Benn Jordan, Anthony Fantano, Curtiss King, Venus Theory, DJ Pain 1, Kuddie Fresh, Sync My Music, Tony Justice, and almost 1300 others, stand united to defend creators’ rights against unlawful AI training and protect the future of music. We stand united not against AI itself, but against corporations that have built AI systems on stolen music without consent or compensation.
Independent music creators are among the world’s greatest innovators. They shape culture and take the creative risks that drive the entire industry forward. Yet, time and again, independent music creators are the first to be exploited and the last to be protected. Today, powerful AI companies – including Suno and Udio - are profiting from their work, without credit, without compensation, and without permission.
In just one example, Suno has publicly admitted to scraping and duplicating tens of millions of “publicly available” songs to train its AI models. Songs that very likely belong, by far majority, to independent music creators.
As alleged in our class action lawsuits, Suno and Udio’s actions were an attack on the music community’s most vulnerable and valuable members. They could have licensed music lawfully, as many responsible AI companies already do. We allege they instead chose theft. Independent creators cannot claw back what was taken from them. And by their own statements, these companies exploited artists’ music for the very purpose of generating competing music in the same marketplace. We believe this was extreme exploitation with no justification.
The U.S. Copyright Office recently made clear that the unauthorized training of AI on creative works like music - which could have otherwise been licensed lawfully - does not qualify as fair use and has expressed the view that such conduct is certainly not “fair.” Federal courts have likewise held that fair use does not apply when companies pirate creative works for AI training instead of lawfully purchasing or licensing them. Simply put, acting in bad faith is not fair use.
Independent creators stand behind these class action lawsuits against Suno and Udio. The goals are simple: stop the theft, remedy the harm you have caused, and set case law that protects the next generation of artists.
We are here to fight back.
Top Music Attorney says:
“Difficulty of proof does not insulate Suno from liability. Independent artists are entitled to discovery to demonstrate how their works were used and reproduced.”​
Anthony Fantano says:
“This unadulterated laundering of musicians’ creativity must stop.”
Benn Jordan says:
"Having been involved with the early testing and development of using machine learning as a creative tool for musicians and sound designers, it would be hard to find someone more enthusiastic about AI's potential to push music production into a new era. But scraping existing original music without consent to train an AI model to generate music based on that material accomplishes very little, if anything at all for art, artists, or even art consumers. What I see is a parlor trick that obfuscates the appearance of reselling intellectual property without compensating the rightsholder(s)."
Curtiss King says:
As an advocate for independent rappers and music producers, I firmly believe in the necessity of this class action lawsuit. Recent events in our community, like the controversy involving producer Timbaland and platforms like Suno, have shown us the urgent need to protect our creativity from unethical uses of AI. While technology has the potential to revolutionize the music industry, it must be done ethically to ensure that human artists and our hard earned skills are respected and protected.
I am not anti technology, but I am pro-ethical uses of technology. AI should not be a tool that diminishes the value of human artistry by saturating the streaming market with unearned content, further reducing the already minimal earnings of independent artists. Our goal is to ensure that creativity and human effort remain at the forefront of the music industry, and that independent artists & musicians who have dedicated their lives to their craft are fairly compensated, respected, and protected.
DJ Pain 1 says:
"AI cannot 'create' without our music. 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."
Venus Theory says:
"This is an industry propped up on venture capital that serves no purpose beyond being acquired by the next highest bidder and skating its way to its next series of funding before it all goes bust. Users of the platform generate content that may or may not be safe for use, business and enterprise users place themselves in a position of extraordinary risk generating at best legally questionable content, and its investors are stuck throwing money into a dumpster fire of a business model with no proven track record or sustainability.
Artists should never be afraid to fight back by biting the hand that feeds itself solely on what it's taken from them."
Sync My Music says:
"If companies like Suno and Udio want to truly support the future of music, getting consent from musicians before training on their work is a no-brainer. It’s about showing basic respect for the people who built the sounds AI is learning from. When artists are included, not exploited, we get better tools, stronger communities, and a future where humans and AI create side by side, not at each other’s expense."
Kuddie Fresh says:
"Producers like me spend years crafting sounds that define culture, and we deserve to be partners in shaping how AI learns from that legacy. If we’re included instead of overlooked, we can build a future where innovation honors the artists who made the music possible in the first place."
Tony Justice says:
“As an independent country artist and truck driver, I’ve worked extremely hard writing songs from the heart and building a career. To learn that companies like Suno and Udio took that music without permission was devastating. This lawsuit is about standing up for every working artist who deserves respect for their God given talent.”
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