Music industry legal news

US court overturns 2 Live Crew’s successful termination rights claim, but on a bankruptcy technicality

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2 Live Crew • 3 min read

US court overturns 2 Live Crew’s successful termination rights claim, but on a bankruptcy technicality

In 2024 members of 2 Live Crew successfully reclaimed rights in their 1980s recordings by exercising the termination right in US copyright law. However, an appeals court has stopped the rights reversion because one of those members, Mark Ross, lost his termination right when he went bankrupt in 2000…

Chris Cooke • 03 Jun 2026

Suno really doesn’t want you to know how many audio files it copied when training its music AI model

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Suno • 3 min read

Suno really doesn’t want you to know how many audio files it copied when training its music AI model

Universal and Sony are still suing Suno, and have accessed lots of info about the AI company in the process. Suno is very keen for one bit of data, the total number of audio files it used when training its AI, to stay confidential, despite a New York journalist’s efforts to force full transparency…

Chris Cooke • 02 Jun 2026

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MIA • 3 min read

M.I.A. sues Kid Cudi after being axed from his tour - claims sacking was ‘publicity stunt’ prompted by poor ticket sales

M.I.A. was sacked as support act on Kid Cudi’s current tour last month, a move that has now prompted a lawsuit. At the time Kid Cudi said he was dropping M.I.A. because of “offensive remarks” she’d made on stage. But she now claims it was a publicity stunt to try to sell more tickets for the tour…

Chris Cooke • 01 Jun 2026

LyricFind amends Musixmatch lawsuit, says rival should hand over profits because Pro service was boosted by anticompetitive conduct

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LyricFind • 3 min read

LyricFind amends Musixmatch lawsuit, says rival should hand over profits because Pro service was boosted by anticompetitive conduct

LyricFind has amended its lawsuit against rival Musixmatch, which it accuses of anticompetitive conduct via a Warner Chappell exclusivity deal. The revised lawsuit says Musixmatch’s Pro service also benefited from the bad conduct and it should be forced to hand over extra profits it made as a result…

Chris Cooke • 29 May 2026

Chance The Rapper and Pat The Manager back in court, over claims Pat improperly inserted himself into Chance’s deals

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Chance The Rapper • 2 min read

Chance The Rapper and Pat The Manager back in court, over claims Pat improperly inserted himself into Chance’s deals

A jury ruled in favour of Chance The Rapper in a legal dispute with his ex-manager Pat Corcoran over unpaid commissions earlier this year. However, there remain other unresolved disputes between the two men, meaning they are both back in court this week, which Chance testifying yesterday…

Chris Cooke • 28 May 2026

Gamma - which released Kanye’s comeback album - sues to unmask whoever is behind “coordinated and malicious” anonymous smear campaign

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Gamma • 5 min read

Gamma - which released Kanye’s comeback album - sues to unmask whoever is behind “coordinated and malicious” anonymous smear campaign

Larry Jackson’s artist services company Gamma - which released Kanye’s ‘Bully’ comeback - is under attack by a anonymous hater who has used an orchestrated bot campaign to smear him and his company. He wants the US courts to unmask the perpetrator, but that might not be quite so straightforward…

Chris Cooke & Sam Taylor • 27 May 2026

Damages in major label lawsuit against Suno could top $9 billion after Sony and Universal add another 61,026 tracks

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Suno • 3 min read

Damages in major label lawsuit against Suno could top $9 billion after Sony and Universal add another 61,026 tracks

While there have been some legal settlements, both Suno and Udio are still fighting major label lawsuits. The majors now want to significantly expand the official list of recordings the AI companies have copied without licence, so that potential damages in the two cases go from millions to billions…

Chris Cooke • 26 May 2026

Live Nation should be forced to sell Ticketmaster and a bunch of amphitheaters, say the states that pursued antitrust litigation

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Live Nation • 2 min read

Live Nation should be forced to sell Ticketmaster and a bunch of amphitheaters, say the states that pursued antitrust litigation

The US states that successfully pursued that big antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation have filed a wishlist of sanctions they now want the judge to impose. It includes forcing a sale of Ticketmaster and various amphitheater venues. Live Nation says the requests are “performative and political”…

Chris Cooke • 22 May 2026

Music industry welcomes revised NO FAKES Act, but Spotify says “still work to do”

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Artificial Intelligence • 4 min read

Music industry welcomes revised NO FAKES Act, but Spotify says “still work to do”

A new version of the NO FAKES Act, which will help performers and creators protect their voice and likeness in the context of AI, has been introduced in Washington. Spotify, which previously expressed concerns about the act, says the latest draft is an improvement, but there’s “still work to do”…

Chris Cooke • 21 May 2026

Snoopy game developer and US government hit with copyright lawsuits by ‘Peanuts’ music publisher

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Lee Mendelson Film Productions • 2 min read

Snoopy game developer and US government hit with copyright lawsuits by ‘Peanuts’ music publisher

The company behind the classic ‘Peanuts’ TV specials has filed four lawsuits over the unlicensed use of music that appears in those programmes, the distinct compositions of Vince Guaraldi. Among those sued is the maker of a Snoopy video game and the US government’s Department Of The Interior…

Chris Cooke • 21 May 2026

Suno sued again - this time by production duo who claim generative AI has caused an 80% slump in sync licensing income

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Suno • 3 min read

Suno sued again - this time by production duo who claim generative AI has caused an 80% slump in sync licensing income

Another day another Suno lawsuit. The AI company has been sued by production duo The American Dollar. This lawsuit is particularly interesting because the duo have traditionally made a lot of money from sync deals, and they say AI music like that generated by Suno has caused that income to slump…

Chris Cooke • 20 May 2026

Live Nation and Ticketmaster should still be split up, lawmakers told, as US government’s antitrust settlement criticised in Congress

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Live Nation • 2 min read

Live Nation and Ticketmaster should still be split up, lawmakers told, as US government’s antitrust settlement criticised in Congress

The US Department Of Justice’s decision to settle antitrust claims against Live Nation was slammed in Congress yesterday, with President Trump accused of siding with an “illegal monopoly”. Congress members also said they still hope Live Nation and Ticketmaster will be split up by the courts…

Chris Cooke • 19 May 2026

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