A federal judge has declined to dismiss the copyright class action brought against AI music generator Udio by a group of independent artists.
Judge Sara L. Ellis of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois denied Uncharted Labs‘ motion to dismiss the lawsuit “without prejudice to refiling in the Southern District of New York.”
In the same order, filed on Monday (August 3), she granted Udio‘s alternative request and transferred the case to that court.
The order, which you can see here, means the New York court, not the Illinois one, will decide whether the artists’ claims can proceed.
Udio is free to renew its motion to dismiss once the case arrives there.
The lawsuit was filed on October 15, 2025 by ten independent musicians and songwriters, suing Udio “individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated.”
The named plaintiffs include David Woulard, a Chicago firefighter who records as Davo Sounds, composer Magnus Fiennes, the band Attack the Sound, and songwriters Stan and James Burjek.
They are represented by law firm Loevy & Loevy.
Eight of the plaintiffs are based in Illinois, one in Georgia and one in California.
Their First Amended Complaint, filed on January 7, 2026, brings 14 counts.
These include seven counts of copyright infringement, three under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, plus claims under Illinois‘ Biometric Information Privacy Act and Right of Publicity Act, a deceptive trade practices count, and a claim of unjust enrichment.
The complaint challenges what it calls Udio‘s practice of “systematically copying and storing works by independent artists to fuel a commercial, mass-market music-generation engine.”
The plaintiffs allege that Udio copied their recordings and compositions “during pre-training, training, and fine-tuning.”
They further allege that Udio built “a centralized library of pirated or otherwise unauthorized copies beyond any technical need.”
The artists frame their case as distinct from the record industry’s own lawsuits against Udio.
“Unlike previous lawsuits filed by major music labels, which primarily aim to protect the high-value catalogs of popular artists, this case emphasizes the significant and unequal harm inflicted on independent musicians,” the Woulard complaint states.
Udio is a Delaware corporation that says its main operations are in New York, with no employees or operations in Illinois.
It had asked the court to dismiss the case for lack of personal jurisdiction, or else to move it to New York.
In its motion, Udio argued that the plaintiffs “have come back with an amended complaint that seemingly throws everything at the jurisdictional wall in hope that something might stick.”
Udio also pointed to an earlier class action already before the Southern District of New York.
That case, Justice v. Uncharted Labs, was filed in June 2025 by country musician Anthony Justice and two other plaintiffs, and makes what Udio called “substantially duplicative” claims.
The transfer places the artists’ case in the same district where Udio has faced the major record companies.
Universal Music Group, Sony Music and Warner Music Group sued Udio in the Southern District of New York in June 2024, in litigation coordinated by the RIAA.
Universal and Warner have since settled with Udio and struck licensing deals with the company.
Sony Music is the only major to have not struck a deal with Udio, filing a further lawsuit last month that asserts 30,117 recordings against the company.
The American Federation of Musicians has separately sued Universal and Warner, alleging the labels licensed union members’ recordings to Udio and Suno “without compensation or credit.”
The order from Judge Ellis brings the copyright cases over Udio into one court.
Both the major labels and the independent artists are now set to litigate against the company in the Southern District of New York.Music Business Worldwide
