Music AI companies Suno and Udio have enlisted Latham & Watkins, the prominent law firm representing OpenAI and Anthropic, to defend against lawsuits filed by major record labels Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and Universal Music Group.

The major labels allege that these AI startups unlawfully used their recordings to train AI models, potentially flooding the market with AI-generated music that could compete with and devalue authentic recordings.

Key legal team members from Latham & Watkins include Andrew Gass, Steve Feldman, Sy Damle, Britt Lovejoy, and Nate Taylor. The labels are represented by attorneys from Hueston Hennigan and Cloherty & Steinberg.

Latham & Watkins brings significant AI defense experience, having represented Anthropic against UMG and Concord Music, as well as OpenAI in various high-profile cases. The firm is expected to leverage fair use doctrine as a primary defense strategy, arguing that AI training falls under permitted use of copyrighted material.

Recent analysis by Ed Newton-Rex of Fairly Trained has demonstrated that both Udio and Suno can generate music closely resembling copyrighted songs by various artists, including Jason Derulo, Jackson 5, and Mariah Carey, raising concerns about the extent of copyright infringement.

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