As Universal Music Group (UMG) and Sony Music continue battling Suno in court over seismic questions about AI training, both sides have sought to gather evidence from other key market players. But not everyone wants to give it over.
The landmark music industry lawsuit is nearly two years into an arduous evidence discovery process that’s set to continue through mid-2027. After that, a judge will decide whether or not it was “fair use” for Suno to train its popular AI music service on millions of unlicensed tracks owned by UMG and Sony (Warner Music Group was initially a plaintiff in the lawsuit as well, but it reached a licensing settlement with Suno last year).
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For much of the lengthy and complex discovery process, the labels and Suno have been exchanging documentary evidence and deposing each other’s witnesses. Then there is what’s known as “third-party discovery” — that is, subpoenas served on anyone that’s not UMG, Sony or Suno. Oct. 14 was a key deadline for these third-party subpoenas, prompting a slew of filings that shed light on the companies that don’t want to provide the evidence sought.
One such filing came from Apple Music. According to a legal petition filed by the streamer and obtained by Billboard, Apple did willingly comply with six different document subpoenas that came from both the labels and Suno throughout the discovery process. The company says it provided “granular” data about the prevalence of Suno-generated music on its platform, as well as complex details about how it detects and tags AI music.
This apparently has been sufficient for the labels. But, according to Apple, Suno still wants more. The AI platform is allegedly demanding that an Apple representative testify at a deposition covering such wide-ranging topics as label licensing and streaming fraud. Apple says this is “overbroad” and is asking a judge to block Suno’s deposition subpoena.
Also on the Suno side, the AI company filed a discovery petition against the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC). Suno says the nonprofit group, which collects and distributes certain digital royalties to publishers and songwriters, hasn’t complied with its subpoena seeking data on how the music streaming market changed after its platform launched in 2023.
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According to Suno, the MLC’s data is “highly relevant” to the labels’ theory that AI music has eaten into their market share and royalty distributions. This could be key to the court’s fair use calculation; among other factors, the judge must weigh whether Suno-generated tracks are now competing with the same music that was used to train the AI model.
This element of the fair use inquiry is also central to another subpoena petition brought by UMG and Sony against DIY distributor DistroKid. As previously reported by Billboard, the labels demanded that DistroKid supply a monthly tally of AI-generated tracks going through its pipes, as well as the streams and royalties generated for each song.
UMG and Sony say these metrics from DistroKid, the largest DIY distributor in the industry, will help them prove that machine-generated music is competing with human-made works. DistroKid has so far refused to provide the data, claiming it “has no bearing” on the lawsuit’s central issue of AI training. UMG is separately suing DistroKid for flooding streaming platforms with “AI-generated slop.”
The labels have additionally gotten into subpoena skirmishes with two of Suno’s biggest venture investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners and Bond Capital Management. Lightspeed filed a petition to ax a document subpoena that sought, among other things, the pitch decks provided by Suno.
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As for Bond, the labels are probing the firm’s decision to participate in Suno’s $400 million Series D funding round this past June. “A sophisticated venture firm like Bond does not lead a nine-figure round in a defendant that is facing mass copyright infringement liability without evaluating those claims, the training practices that gave rise to them, and the market the company intends to capture,” wrote UMG and Sony in a petition to compel Bond’s compliance with the subpoena. “That evaluation, and what Suno told Bond to secure its capital, are what plaintiffs seek.”
In another investment-related discovery matter, UMG and Sony just got permission on Monday (Oct. 26) to depose C.C. Gong, a former principal at Suno investor Menlo Ventures. Earlier this year, Gong posted on X, “I’ve personally shifted most of my listening to Suno. I was so tired of Spotify giving me the same overplayed recommendations.” The labels say this statement from a key player in Suno’s fundraising is key evidence that AI music replaces human songs.
Reps for Sony, Suno and the MLC declined to comment on the subpoenas, and reps for UMG, Apple Music, Lightspeed, Bond and Menlo did not return requests for comment.
A spokesperson for DistroKid told Billboard, “DistroKid is a third party in the ongoing litigation between Universal Music Group, Sony Music and Suno. We are committed to transparency and will continue to cooperate with the legal process as this matter proceeds.”
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