Friday Jul 3
ENTERTAINMENTOther

Judge Denies Sony's Udio Expansion

3JUL
333 KEPT30K DENIED

A court limited how big an AI music case can get. Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied Sony's bid to add 30,000 songs to its Udio suit. Bigger rulings on Suno and Udio are coming.

Sony wanted 30,000 more tracks folded into its lawsuit against Udio, an AI song generator. That request got turned down as too disruptive this late in discovery.

What's left moving forward is the original 333 works Sony first cited. Universal and Warner already settled their own Suno and Udio suits. Sony is the last major label still fighting both companies.

A separate Suno ruling lands this month in Massachusetts. That decision could set the bar for every AI-trained song model built since.

full brief & sources

⚡ Why this matters

  • Courts are starting to referee how far AI copyright suits can stretch.
  • Narrowing the case now shapes what precedent the eventual verdict sets.
  • It signals judges won't let plaintiffs balloon scope this late in a fight.

🔍 What happened

  • Sony Music asked to add 30,000+ recordings to its Udio lawsuit.
  • Judge Alvin Hellerstein, in New York federal court, denied the request.
  • The case proceeds with the original 333 works Sony first cited.
  • Universal settled with Udio in October 2025. Warner settled with Suno in November 2025.
  • Sony remains the only major label still litigating against both AI music makers.
  • A separate Suno summary-judgment hearing is set for July 2026 in Massachusetts.

💬 Smart takes

  • Judge Hellerstein: "generate further disputes, and materially alter the scope of the case."
  • Skeptic: a narrower lawsuit can still end in a quiet settlement, dodging the fair-use question everyone wants answered.

🧭 Where this goes

  1. LikelySony's Udio case proceeds to trial on the original 333 works.
  2. Likelythe Suno Massachusetts ruling this month becomes the reference case for the industry.
  3. PossibleSony settles quietly once the Suno ruling sets a clear precedent.
  4. Wild Cardthe Suno ruling favors fair use and guts the remaining label lawsuits industry-wide.

🥄 The Spoon Take

Courts are done letting AI copyright suits sprawl. This ruling is small, but it's a tell. Judges want clean, decidable cases before the big fair-use question gets answered. Watch Massachusetts, not New York, for the ruling that actually moves the industry.

🤔 Pushback

A narrower case can still settle quietly, leaving the real fair-use question for training data unresolved for years.

·Music Business Worldwide - Sony's Udio bid denied·Digital Music News - Judge rejects expansion·Music Ally - Ruling details