3 Count: Unsealed Data

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1: Judge Vacates Order That Sealed Udio’s ‘Confidential’ Data in Sony Music’s Copyright Lawsuit

First off today, Mandy Dalugdug at Music Business Worldwide reports that a judge has vacated a previous order that sealed information about the company that trained its various AI systems.

Sony Music sued Udio, a music AI company, for copyright infringement in June 2024. It was joined by the other two major music labels, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. However, the latter two have since settled their claims and dropped out of the case, leaving Sony Music as the only plaintiff.

Earlier in the case, the judge ruled that certain data on Udio’s training process was confidential and should not be included in the public docket. However, Sony is seeking to greatly expand the scope of the case by adding more than 30,000 new songs to the lawsuit. Sony claims that it learned of these new songs through data obtained from Udio and that the documents in question should be unsealed.

2: Musicians’ Union Sues Major Labels for Artists’ Share of AI Song Generator Settlement Money

Next up today, Ethan Millman at The Hollywood Reporter and Esquire reports that the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) has filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, alleging that the two companies are not sharing the windfall from AI settlements with their artists.

Both music labels reached settlements with Udio in 2024. However, according to the lawsuit, the companies protected their interests and allowed Udio to continue training AI models on AFM members’ music but have not compensated any of the artists.

Udio, for its part, is still being sued by Sony (see above). However, in spite of the litigation, Udio recently closed another $400 million in funding based on a valuation of $5.4 billion.

3: Filmmakers and ISP WOW! Settle Piracy Liability Lawsuit Before Trial

Finally today, Ernesto Van der Sar at TorrentFreak writes that the internet service provider WOW! has reached a settlement with a group of filmmakers over alleged copyright infringement that occurred on its network.

Millennium Media and Voltage Pictures filed the lawsuit in 2021. They alleged that WOW! had failed to take adequate action to prevent copyright infringement on its network. The judge in the case denied a motion to dismiss, saying that he could not determine whether WOW! was protected by the DMCA safe harbor provisions.

While the safe harbor issue was still up in the air, a similar case involving Sony and the service provider Cox went before the Supreme Court. There, Cox won after the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Cox didn’t need safe harbor protection was there was no secondary liability. That ruling clearly favors WOW! in this case, likely prompting the settlement.

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