Lifestyle
Sony and UMG Sue AI Music Company Suno Again, Accusing Its New v6 Model of "Model Laundering"
The Verge reports that Sony and Universal Music Group have sued AI music company Suno again, alleging its new v6 model is still indirectly built on unlicensed music and calling this "model laundering."
About 5 min read
What happened: record giants sue Suno again
According to The Verge's September 25, 2026 report, Sony and Universal Music Group have filed a new lawsuit against the AI music generation service Suno. The focus of this dispute is Suno's latest v6 model: the plaintiffs claim it still infringes their copyrights. The Verge obtained the content of this complaint.
The report says Sony and UMG are what The Verge calls "notable holdouts" that have not signed licensing agreements with Suno.
Read the full description
Sources are collected, independently checked, then reviewed by Jev.
What is "model laundering"? The plaintiffs' core argument
In the complaint, the plaintiffs put forward the idea of "model laundering," borrowing the concept of money laundering. They argue that training a so-called "new" model on content produced by an infringing model does not make the infringement disappear. Instead, it passes the value of the original recordings into tainted models, then into those models' outputs, and finally into v6. The complaint states: "V6 is not a fresh start; it is the fruit of the same poisoned tree."
The report says Sony further alleges that Suno used a technique called "distillation" to train v6. Put simply, distillation means having a new model imitate the results of an older model (called a "teacher" model). The plaintiffs say those teacher models were themselves created using infringing data. The complaint states that "even a model not directly trained on Plaintiffs' recordings is informed by, and benefits from, Suno's retained unauthorized copies." In other words, the labels argue that unless Suno truly starts from scratch, its models will continue to be built on stolen data.
What Suno says
According to The Verge, Suno's Jack Brody told The Verge when v6 launched that the model was "trained from the ground up, with a new set of data," including "user data," but did not offer further details. A Suno spokesperson later confirmed to The Verge that this data includes users' "creations."
| Party | Account of v6 training data | Core claim |
|---|---|---|
| Sony and UMG (plaintiffs) | v6 was trained on user works produced by older models, which used unlicensed music | Put forward "model laundering," arguing v6 is "the fruit of the same poisoned tree" |
| Suno | v6 was "trained from the ground up, with a new set of data," including user data and "creations" | v6 is a model trained from the ground up on new data |
| Further point of dispute: distillation | Sony alleges Suno trained v6 to replicate older "teacher" models built with infringing data | Even without directly using the plaintiffs' recordings, v6 still benefits from unauthorized copies |
What to watch next
- The two sides' claims and any legal liability are still to be decided by the court.
- Whether the court accepts the complaint's "model laundering" and "distillation" arguments remains to be seen.
- Whether Suno will disclose more details about v6's training data.
Frequently asked questions
Why are Sony and UMG suing Suno again?
According to The Verge, they claim Suno's newly released v6 model still infringes their copyrights, because v6 was trained on user works produced by older models, and those older models used unlicensed music.
What is "model laundering"?
It is the term the plaintiffs use in the complaint, drawing an analogy to money laundering: training a new model on an infringing model's output does not wash away the original infringement, but only passes the value of the original recordings into the new model and its outputs.
What does "distillation" mean?
It refers to having a new model learn by imitating the results of an older model (a "teacher" model). Sony alleges Suno trained v6 this way, and that those teacher models were created using infringing data.
What has Suno said about v6's training data?
When v6 launched, Suno said it was trained from the ground up with a new set of data that included user data, and later confirmed the data includes users' "creations."
Has the outcome of this lawsuit been determined?
Not yet. The current reporting covers the plaintiffs' allegations and Suno's statements, without describing the concrete impact on users.
Sources
This article is based on a September 25, 2026 report by The Verge, written by the site's weekend editor Terrence O'Brien.
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