Published: September 23, 2026 · 3:15 AM EDT
The AI music company acknowledges using user-generated tracks and licensed content to develop its latest model as Sony Music and Universal Music Group allege unauthorized copying of 60,202 sound recordings in a new U.S. federal lawsuit
Suno has confirmed that its latest artificial intelligence music model, V6, was trained in part on creations generated by users of its platform, introducing a new dimension to the ongoing copyright dispute between the company and two of the world's largest music corporations.
The disclosure came in a September 22, 2026, statement responding to a second lawsuit filed by Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group in federal court in Boston on September 18. The record companies allege that Suno copied 60,202 copyrighted sound recordings without authorization and that its latest model incorporates material derived from earlier versions trained on those recordings.
SUNO CONFIRMS USER CREATIONS WERE PART OF V6 TRAINING
Suno launched V6 on September 9, presenting the model as a new generation of AI music technology developed in collaboration with Warner Music Group, BMG and Believe. The company initially described its training material as a combination of licensed content, user data and technological developments accumulated by its research team.
In its latest statement, Suno clarified that the training process included creations and preference signals generated through interactions with its users, alongside licensed material from its music industry partners.
The distinction is significant. Suno previously told Music Business Worldwide that the user data involved in training V6 did not include audio files uploaded by users. However, that clarification did not exclude music generated within the platform itself.
The company has not publicly detailed the precise proportion of user-generated music incorporated into V6 or identified the individual recordings used during training.
Suno's terms of service, effective September 3, grant the company a broad, nonexclusive license to use submitted and generated content for purposes including improving its AI models. The agreement does not automatically transfer ownership of users' original submissions to Suno.
SONY AND UNIVERSAL CHALLENGE THE NEW MODEL
The latest lawsuit alleges that V6 remains connected to copyrighted recordings used to train Suno's earlier models, even if the company developed the new system using licensed material and outputs generated by previous versions.
Sony and Universal argue that training a new model on music produced by earlier models does not necessarily eliminate copyright infringement associated with the original training material.
The companies also allege that Suno used model-transfer techniques to incorporate capabilities developed through earlier training. These allegations remain subject to judicial examination.
Suno rejects the record companies' claims, maintaining that its methods are legally defensible and that its latest technology was developed with licensed music industry partners.
THE MUSIC INDUSTRY'S DIVIDED APPROACH TO AI
The dispute follows the original copyright lawsuit filed against Suno in June 2024 by Universal, Sony and Warner Music Group. Warner subsequently settled its claims in November 2025 and entered into a licensing agreement with the AI company.
BMG signed a separate agreement with Suno in August 2026, while Believe announced its partnership in September, shortly before the V6 launch.
Sony and Universal continue pursuing their claims through the courts, while Suno maintains that its technology enables new forms of musical creation.
The latest proceedings will examine whether the development of a new AI music model using licensed content and user-generated material addresses the copyright allegations associated with its predecessors. No final judicial determination has been made in the newly filed case.
No official video directly documenting Suno's V6 training disclosure or the September 18 lawsuit has been verified for this report.
Written by Gino Alache – Music Journalist
IMAGE CREDIT: Suno.
