Suno's v6 Model Accused by Sony Music and UMG of Being a Facelift, Not a Fix — Old Infringing Data Still Powers Training

Suno's v6 model was supposed to be an image makeover: it's the company's first release since signing licensing deals with Warner Music Group and BMG, with official messaging emphasizing that training material came from "partner-licensed content." But Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group (UMG) see it differently — according to a lawsuit reported by Variety and obtained by Music Business Worldwide, the two record labels claim in their new suit that v6 is actually continuing to feed on unauthorized old data through a roundabout route.

The dispute hinges on a line Suno itself has publicly admitted: that v6's training data, besides licensed content, also includes "user interactions with the service." Sony Music and UMG interpret this as meaning these interactions are actually outputs and preference signals from earlier model versions — models that were trained using unauthorized copies of the two companies' recordings. In other words, even though v6 appears on the surface to use clean training material, the "taste memory" left behind by the old models may have leaked into the new generation of the product.

Following this logic, the two companies allege Suno has infringed the copyrights of at least 60,202 recordings, which under U.S. copyright law could result in damages of up to $9 billion. According to Music Business Worldwide, Suno could also face additional penalties of up to $2,500 each time it bypassed YouTube's anti-download technology to scrape songs.

Responding to the allegations, Suno told Engadget that "these claims are fundamentally wrong, both factually and legally," reiterating that "Suno exists to help more people create new music." The company said it has spent the past two years working toward this goal, and that v6, developed in partnership with WMG, BMG, and Believe, "was trained using content licensed from our partners, interactions from our community (including creations and preference signals), and the learnings our team has accumulated." Suno added that it hopes AI and the music industry can mutually elevate each other going forward, creating new product experiences for artists, fans, and the wider music community.

This lawsuit follows earlier suits filed against Suno by Sony Music, UMG, and WMG, as well as a July 2026 data leak involving Suno — which revealed that the AI company had scraped large volumes of songs and lyrics from platforms like YouTube Music, Deezer, and Genius to train its earlier models. Suno has previously defended this kind of scraping as falling under fair use.

One notable move worth flagging: alongside the launch of v6, Suno also discontinued support for its older models. This at least suggests the company is well aware that a product marketed as trained on licensed material holds up better in the public eye than its past practices. But if the judge accepts the two labels' interpretation of how the training actually worked, this new packaging may not be enough to hold up.