American Federation of Musicians v. UMG & Warner Music Group

Case: American Federation of Musicians v. Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, S.D.N.Y., filed June 5, 2026 · Judge Edgardo Ramos — docket number to be confirmed via CourtListener

The settlements that resolved the major labels' copyright suits against Suno and Udio didn't end the legal fallout from those deals — they started a new dispute entirely. On June 5, 2026, the American Federation of Musicians, the union representing session and touring musicians, sued Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group in the Southern District of New York, alleging that the labels licensed recordings featuring AFM-represented musicians to Suno and Udio as part of their settlement and licensing agreements, without paying or crediting the musicians who performed on them.

The union's theory rests on a specific contractual mechanism: the "new use" provision of its Sound Recording Labor Agreement, which the AFM argues requires the labels to compensate musicians when a recording they performed on is put to a new commercial use. The complaint characterizes UMG and Warner's AI licensing deals — struck to settle litigation the labels themselves had filed against Suno and Udio — as exactly that kind of new use, and seeks a share of both the licensing revenue going forward and the money the labels recovered by settling their original infringement claims.

Warner has pushed back hard on the union's framing. In a July 10, 2026 letter to Judge Ramos requesting a pre-motion conference ahead of a formal motion to dismiss, Warner argued that the AFM brought the lawsuit "in an improper attempt to place a judicial thumb on the negotiation scales" — characterizing the suit as a labor-negotiation tactic rather than a genuine breach-of-contract claim, and signaling that Warner intends to move to dismiss rather than negotiate a resolution.

This case is worth tracking alongside the underlying Suno and Udio litigation for a specific reason: it tests who is entitled to share in the value created when a copyright settlement functions, in practical effect, as a retroactive license. The labels settled infringement claims and simultaneously created new revenue streams from the same recordings — and the AFM's suit puts a number on the proposition that the musicians who performed on those recordings have a contractual claim to part of that value, independent of who owns the copyright.

Source reporting: Music Business Worldwide, "US musicians union sues UMG and Warner Music, alleging member recordings were licensed to Suno and Udio 'without compensation or credit'" (June 8, 2026) and "Warner Music asks court to dismiss US musicians' lawsuit over Suno, Udio deals".

Key Filings

• AFM complaint, filed June 5, 2026 (S.D.N.Y.)
• Warner Music Group's pre-motion conference letter to Judge Ramos, filed July 10, 2026