A federal judge has denied Sony Music‘s motion to expand its copyright infringement lawsuit against AI music startup Udio, keeping the case limited to the 333 sound recordings cited in the original complaint.
New York federal judge Alvin K. Hellerstein rejected the major label’s request to add more than 30,000 additional recordings to the suit. Had the expansion been approved, potential statutory damages could have escalated dramatically, with maximum penalties of $150,000 per infringed work.
Udio has already entered into licensing agreements with several prominent rights holders:
- Universal Music Group (UMG)
- Warner Music Group (WMG)
- Merlin
- National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA)
The deals with UMG and WMG resolved separate lawsuits those companies had filed against the startup.
Sony Music has not joined those settlements. Its decision to continue litigation introduces uncertainty for Udio’s planned platform relaunch later this year.
