Judge lets independent artists' derivative-work class action against Suno proceed, denies dismissal bid

What happened

On September 28, 2026, a federal judge in Massachusetts denied Suno's motion to dismiss the core copyright claims in Justice, et al. v. Suno, Inc., a putative class action by independent recording artists.

Details

• The plaintiffs, independent recording artists and entities holding copyrights to song compositions and recordings, allege Suno's AI music generator produced music derived from their copyrighted songs, which had been downloaded from YouTube.
• Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV rejected Suno's argument that the 17 U.S.C. Section 106(2) derivative-work claim failed because the amended complaint did not identify specific infringing outputs. The complaint provides about 100 examples of Suno outputs that "closely imitate or replicate specific existing songs or artist identifiers" and cites comments by Suno's CEO that the model can produce outputs replicating real artists' vocals and songs. The judge held it a plausible inference that Suno's model created substantially similar outputs, with proof reserved for discovery.
• The judge also denied dismissal of a DMCA claim under 17 U.S.C. Section 1201(a)(1), but granted dismissal of a Tennessee Consumer Protection Act claim.

Boundary

This is a pleading-stage ruling, not a finding of infringement; whether the plaintiffs can show infringing outputs after discovery is reserved for later.