Universal Music asks a federal court to toss the musicians union lawsuit

Universal Music Group has asked a federal court to dismiss the lawsuit the American Federation of Musicians filed over its licensing of recordings to AI company Udio, Music Business Worldwide reported on August 5. In a motion filed the same day in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, UMG argued the union's claim fails as a matter of law because its contract "fixes no rate for the use of recordings to train generative AI."

"This case should be dismissed... because the parties' written agreement, the Sound Recording Labor Agreement, forecloses AFM's sole claim as a matter of law," UMG's lawyers wrote in the filing. A UMG spokesperson added that the company has been "striking responsible AI licensing agreements to ensure [artists] are compensated," and said it expects to keep working with the AFM through ongoing collective bargaining.

The AFM, which describes itself as the largest union of professional musicians in the world, sued UMG and Warner Music on June 5, alleging the labels licensed members' recordings to Udio and, in Warner's case, Suno, without compensation or credit. The claim rests on Article 21(a) of the union's Sound Recording Labor Agreement, which covers any "new use" of a recording the contract does not otherwise address; the union argues that training generative AI is such a new use and that UMG has paid nothing for it. UMG counters that Article 21(a) sets no price of its own and imports one only from a separate AFM agreement that, for AI, does not yet exist. "A payment measured by an agreement that does not exist is no payment at all," the company's lawyers wrote.

At a July 21 pre-motion conference, US District Judge Edgardo Ramos pressed UMG on the point, asking why the company shouldn't pay "the authors of that music" given it is already profiting from licensing it to AI firms, and comparing the dispute to rap sampling, a past "new use" that unions, artists and labels eventually resolved through negotiation. UMG's lead counsel, Orin Snyder, characterized the company's position as an obligation to negotiate rather than an outright refusal to pay, telling the judge: "That's precisely correct."

Warner Records and Atlantic Recording Corp., substituted for parent Warner Music Group in an amended complaint filed July 24, have also been granted leave to file their own motion to dismiss the union's claims. The dispute traces back to June 2024, when UMG and Warner first sued Udio and Suno for copyright infringement; both majors have since settled with Udio, and Warner separately struck a deal with Suno, while Sony remains in active litigation with both AI companies. UMG and the AFM are negotiating a new labor contract at the same time, with bargaining sessions scheduled for the week of August 3 and AI-compensation proposals already exchanged.