Sony Music and Universal Music Group (UMG) have filed a new legal action seeking internal data from DistroKid on AI (artificial intelligence)-generated music uploads, particularly tracks from Suno.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the action is closely connected to two existing lawsuits brought by the labels against DistroKid.
The labels want to establish how much AI-generated music DistroKid delivers to streaming services. They also seek information about its AI-detection tools, which DistroKid previously declined to disclose as irrelevant to their case against Suno.
Sony and UMG argue that the material is central to assessing Suno’s “fair use” defense and their allegations of copyright infringement and resulting harm.
The labels contend that Suno and DistroKid help drive large volumes of AI-generated music onto DSPs (digital service providers), displacing the labels’ intellectual property and damaging their businesses through allegedly infringing content.
They describe the requested data as “highly relevant information that only DistroKid possesses,” and “proportional to a case in which the market effect of AI-generated music is a central contested question.”
The filing alleges that DistroKid delivered nearly 12 million tracks to one unnamed DSP between March and September this year, exceeding the combined total from all other distributors.
The action follows a UMG lawsuit alleging that DistroKid enabled bad actors to upload AI-generated music at scale, diluting the royalty pool for legitimate musicians. Sony Music is not a party to that lawsuit.
