Sony Music’s copyright lawsuit against AI music platform Suno is moving into a summary judgment hearing in July in federal court in Massachusetts, with Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV presiding. The central question is whether training an AI model on millions of copyrighted sound recordings qualifies as fair use under U.S. law.
The case is being watched closely because it is the first one to place the issue of AI music training and copyright infringement directly before a federal judge. A summary judgment hearing can shape the outcome before a full trial, since the court rules on legal issues tied to facts that are not materially disputed.
Fair use fight centers on transformation and market harm
Suno argues that its system makes transformative use of copyrighted material. Its position is that the model learns musical patterns and structures, then generates new outputs rather than reproducing existing songs. The company has also cited the Second Circuit’s Bartz ruling in support of that argument.
Sony is focusing on the fourth fair use factor: market harm. Its claim is that if AI-generated music competes in the same market as the recordings used for training, and affects the revenue tied to those recordings, the fair use defense weakens sharply. In U.S. copyright disputes, that fourth factor often carries heavy weight.
The case escalated in May when Sony and UMG, using audio fingerprinting, argued that Suno had used “millions” of copyrighted tracks and asked to add 61,026 recordings to the suit. If infringement is found, statutory damages under U.S. copyright law can reach as high as $150,000 per work, putting the financial exposure at an enormous level.
Sony is the last major label still pressing for a ruling
The litigation began in June 2024, when the RIAA filed suit on behalf of Sony, UMG, and Warner against Suno in Boston and Udio in New York. That united front did not last. Warner settled with Suno in November 2025 and signed a licensing agreement, while UMG settled with Udio in October 2025, producing what the source described as the first AI music licensing template with royalties of $0.002 to $0.005 per generation.
Sony is now the only major label still refusing settlement in both cases and pushing for a court ruling. That makes this dispute more than a company-specific fight. The decision could influence how labels and AI firms structure licensing talks from here.
Suno keeps raising capital while defending the lawsuit
Suno does not appear to be operating from a position of weakness. According to the source material, the company raised $400 million in June, reaching a valuation of $5.4 billion. The combination of active litigation and fresh fundraising has drawn attention from both the music business and the wider tech market.
Whatever the judge decides at this stage will be studied across the AI and content industries. A ruling against fair use in AI training could become a reference point for collective actions by independent musicians and for other copyright disputes already under scrutiny, including the publisher case involving Anthropic. A ruling in Suno’s favor would shift the balance in negotiations between rights holders and AI music companies.