Tony Justice and his label 5th Wheel Records Inc. said the suits are needed to ensure independent artists have a say in the ongoing fight over AI-generated music. Major record labels, including Sony Music Entertainment, Capitol Records and Atlantic Recording Corp., sued Udio and Suno last year, claiming that they illegally used copyrighted recordings to train their music generators, Justice noted.
"While this high-profile lawsuit continues to draw attention in the fight to protect major label music, independent artists, whose rights have been trampled the most, are the ones left without a seat at the table, unrepresented and without a meaningful remedy," Justice said in the complaints, filed in New York and Massachusetts federal courts Friday.
Justice describes himself as a singer-songwriter and trucker, according to his website. He founded 5th Wheel Records, which is "dedicated to authentic storytelling, raw talent and the kind of country music that doesn't chase trends," the site states.
He's sold more than 100,000 albums and racked up 21 million YouTube views and millions of streams on music platforms like Spotify, Justice said.
In Friday's suits, Justice said that Udio and Suno have admitted in the major label litigation that their AI music generators are trained using "publicly available" sources. The majority of publicly available music is owned and controlled by independent artists, he said.
"Udio's actions were not only unlawful, but an unconscionable attack on the music community's most vulnerable and valuable creators," he said in the Udio complaint.
Justice said that he and other independent artists will never be able to claw back their intellectual property that was allegedly copied by Udio.
"Once AI ingests copyrighted music, those songs are stored in its neural network, and not capable of deletion or retraction," he said. "These acts by Udio were abuse and exploitation of the worst kind of copyrighted songs owned by independent artists, plaintiffs and class members."
Rather than just license the copyrighted songs — "like every other tech-based business does" — Udio and Sony opted to steal the songs, Justice said.
Also in the major label litigation, the AI companies are arguing that they are shielded from any liability by the doctrine of fair use, according to Justice. However, the U.S. Copyright Office recently released a report emphasizing that the doctrine doesn't excuse unauthorized training on "expressive works," like music, Justice said.
"Not only does a robust and long-used licensing system exist today for businesses like [Udio and Suno] to utilize, but independent artists heavily rely on licensing, streaming, and synchronization opportunities to monetize their music," he said.
Justice is hoping to represent classes of independent recording artists and entities owned or controlled by independent recording artists who hold U.S. copyright registrations for songs licensed on music streaming services and that were available at any time since January 2021.
Krystle Delgado, one of Justice's attorneys, called on "all independent music creators to support the fight." One of the ways to support is by joining as a plaintiff, she said in a statement.
"This is an important moment in music industry history," Delgado said.
Udio and Suno didn't immediately respond to requests for comment late Monday.
Justice and 5th Wheel are represented by Michael V. Glennon of Brody Hardoon Perkins & Kesten LLP, Jarrett L. Ellzey and Leigh S. Montgomery of EKSM LLP and Krystle Delgado of Delgado Entertainment Law PLLC.
Counsel information for the defendants wasn't immediately available.
The cases are Anthony Justice et al. v. Uncharted Labs Inc., case number 1:25-cv-05026, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and Anthony Justice et al. v. Suno Inc., case number 1:25-cv-11739, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
--Additional reporting by Brian Dowling and Ivan Moreno. Editing by Kelly Duncan.
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