Koda Suno lawsuit

Copenhagen, Denmark. Photo Credit: Lindsay Martin

Suno is facing yet another copyright complaint – this time from Denmark’s Koda, which has accused the AI music generator of infringing on its members’ works in training as well as outputs.

Koda just recently submitted the action to the Copenhagen City Court and promptly requested a high-court referral in light of the “fundamental” issues at hand. As most are aware, those issues – AI giants’ allegedly training their models on protected works without authorization and then generating similar outputs – are front and center in different cases.

And while several of these cases involve Suno – its Udio rival has settled with Universal Music – they aren’t playing out in Denmark. (GEMA’s Munich Regional Court complaint against Suno is still unfolding, however.)

Now, Koda is looking to establish “a clear, industry-wide standard” for AI training and outputs in the European nation with its “landmark lawsuit.”

According to the organization, it’s alleging a pair of section two violations of Denmark’s Copyright Act: One concerning the exclusive right to reproduce works in any form, the other involving the right to make works publicly available (via an online platform, for instance).

Koda has also levied allegations pertaining to market dilution – endless infringing outputs’ harming demand for proper music, that is – and stream ripping.

The latter two claims are likewise factoring prominently into separate copyright complaints against gen AI developers. Furthermore, it probably won’t come as a surprise that allegedly infringing outputs are taking center stage in Koda’s suit as well.

Specifically, Koda is said to have obtained “concrete evidence that the copyright of each work has been infringed” – with the allegedly lifted works themselves including Aqua’s “Barbie Girl,” MØ’s “Final Song,” Christopher’s “A Beautiful Life,” and D.A.D.’s “Sleeping My Day Away,” to name a few.

In a statement, Koda CEO Gorm Arildsen applauded the perceived potential of “responsible AI” for the music world – while criticizing the “theft” of IP.

“We are excited about what responsible AI can do for music,” Arildsen added. “But innovation can’t be built on stolen goods. Suno has taken our members’ creative work and fed it into their machines without consent, transparency or remuneration. That is theft – and it threatens the future of music.”

A couple closing notes: Suno is reportedly in talks to wrap a $100 million funding round at a whopping $2 billion valuation. Additionally, Universal Music and Udio, which are now preparing to roll out a new streaming platform, have officially put their legal battle to rest.