Duane “Keffe D” Davis is speaking out after being convicted in connection with the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur.

In his first interview since being convicted of the rapper’s first-degree murder earlier this week, Davis, 63, maintained his innocence and said he expects to be released from prison.

“S—t, I ain’t worried. I’m getting out on an appeal,” Davis told The Hollywood Reporter from the Clark County Detention Center in Nevada. “We already filed it before the trial even started. They violated my civil rights!”

A Las Vegas jury convicted Davis of first-degree murder on Monday (Sept. 1), marking the first conviction in the nearly 30-year-old case surrounding Shakur’s killing. Prosecutors alleged that he orchestrated the drive-by shooting in retaliation for an earlier altercation involving his nephew and members of the hip-hop legend’s entourage.

The Compton, California, native said his 2019 autobiography, Compton Street Legend, which was a key piece of evidence during the trial, was improperly used against him in court.

“I never wrote that book. The author told me to tell them 10 stories about what happened in your life and get them some pictures,” Davis said. “I never read that book or went over that book or nothing. They didn’t even spell my name right on the cover.”

Davis also said witnesses misrepresented his character throughout the trial, including FBI agents and police officers who testified for the prosecution.

“Man, they lied about me so much. I don’t even know where to begin. All those cops in there was lying like a motherf—ker,” he said. “The prosecutors were lying about me.”

He added, “I’m a good man, man. I’m a good person. I’m not no f—king killer. Puff never offered me no f—king million dollars for them.”

Davis noted that he did not take the stand during his trial because his lawyer told him “it would mess up my chances of appeal.”

Following the trial, jurors took just three hours to convict him, while Shakur’s family expressed gratitude and relief over the outcome. Davis addressed whether he had a message for the rapper’s family.

“I ain’t got nothing to say to them,” he said. “I didn’t like the way they was looking at me — like they was ready to beat me up. And I didn’t like the way the prosecutors kept bringing them in the back room where the jury was. That felt biased to me.”

Michael Sanft, the defense attorney who represented Davis, recently told NBC News that his client intends to appeal the conviction.

“I’m innocent, man. They got an innocent man sitting in jail,” Davis told THR. “I’ve got two grandsons that are going to the pros in football. They All-Americans — one of them is in high school. He has 25 scholarship offers, and the other one is in college. And when they get their millions, they’re coming to get me out of here.”

A judge says Sean “Diddy” Combs can keep pursuing defamation claims over a NewsNation broadcast that suggested he laced baby oil with drugs to incapacitate alleged sexual assault victims.

A Friday (Sept. 4) court ruling, first obtained and reported by Billboard, denies motions by both NewsNation and lawyer Ariel Mitchell to outright dismiss Combs’ $100 million slander lawsuit. A third defendant in the case, Courtney Burgess, has not responded to the claims and is facing the prospect of default judgment.

Mitchell was the attorney for Burgess, who claims to know the Bad Boy Records founder and was a witness before the grand jury that charged Combs in 2024 over his sex parties known as “freak-offs.” The indictment claimed Combs kept “more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil” in his home for these events — a headline-grabbing allegation that quickly became synonymous with the case.

Burgess and Mitchell appeared on NewsNation for multiple interviews following Combs’ arrest. In one broadcast, Mitchell said she had done “research” indicating that baby oil could be mixed with drugs before being doused on a sexual assault victim, thereby “lowering her defenses.” Combs alleges in his lawsuit that this is scientifically baseless, and it was defamatory for Mitchell and NewsNation to spread such lies.

Judge John P. Cronan said in Friday’s order that there’s sufficient basis for Combs to allege defamation based on this statement. “In the view of the Court,” wrote the judge, “it is plausible that anyone who heard such a claim would at the very least entertain serious doubts as to its accuracy.”

The judge ruled that Combs can also keep suing Mitchell for saying during the NewsNation interviews that Burgess had access to video recordings of Combs engaged in sexual assault, which Combs unequivocally denies. However, the judge said NewsNation itself cannot be held liable for those statements, since the cable news channel provided all the proper context for its viewers.

“NewsNation presented Burgess’s claims as exactly what they were: allegations,” wrote Judge Cronan. “The host reminded viewers that Combs ‘has not been convicted of any crimes’ and that ‘everything against him is an allegation until it is proven in a court of law.’”

Reps for Combs, NewsNation and Mitchell did not immediately return requests for comment on Friday’s ruling.

The decision is not a final determination on the merits of any claims, but rather a procedural step that allows Combs to move forward with obtaining evidence from Mitchell and NewsNation through the discovery process. The next phase would be a trial, unless a settlement is reached to resolve the case.

This is further than Combs got in his other major defamation lawsuit against a media network, NBCUniversal; in April, a judge threw out his claims over the 2025 Peacock documentary The Making of a Bad Boy after determining that it complied with journalistic standards. Combs is appealing that ruling.

Combs is currently serving prison time for illegal prostitution, though he was acquitted at trial of more serious charges that sought to frame his “freak-off” parties as the results of a racketeering and sex-trafficking enterprise. He’s currently scheduled to be released in early 2028.

The second and final week of evidence in Lil Durk’s trial featured more government witnesses who said the rap star organized a murder — but also a defense case that questioned the credibility of that testimony.  

You’re reading Billboard‘s weekly Lil Durk trial recap, a one-sheet breakdown of everything that happened in the murder-for-hire case over the past week. Stay tuned here each Friday for all the testimony and big events you might have missed.

Durk is charged with ordering his Only the Family (OTF) crew to kill rival rapper Quando Rondo in retaliation for the 2020 killing of his close friend and collaborator King Von. Rondo was shot at a Los Angeles gas station in 2022 and survived, but Rondo’s cousin, known as Lul Pab, was killed in the crossfire.

In the trial that began Aug. 24, prosecutors have built their case around testimony from co-conspirators who have pleaded guilty to the murder and claim Durk was behind the plot. One of the men who shot at Rondo, Kacey “OTF Jam” Hester, took the witness stand in the first week and called the attack “sloppy.”

A second shooter, Keith “Flacka” Jones, testified on Monday (Aug. 31) that Durk promised him $1 million to kill Rondo but never followed through with the payment. Durk’s former assistant, Kavon “Vonnie” Grant, told the jury on Tuesday (Sept. 1) that he coordinated the logistics of the 2022 shooting but kept Durk updated each step of the way. He said Durk was “excited” and “joyful” when news broke of Pab’s death.

“Finally, we got somebody for the revenge of King Von’s death,” said Vonnie of Durk’s reaction, according to trial transcripts reviewed by Billboard.

Durk says he had nothing to do with the shooting, and his lawyers have argued that all the cooperating witnesses are lying to shorten their own prison sentences. Defense attorney Drew Findling went particularly hard during the cross-examination of Vonnie, whom Durk’s team claims was the actual mastermind of the murder.

Findling played numerous recordings of phone calls Vonnie has made from jail, including one in which he said that the trial testimony would be his “time to shine” and “perform,” as well as others where he’s heard discussing plans to make money selling his story to a TV show.

“You were willing to sacrifice people, whether it’s their lives or whether it’s their freedom, so you can walk away. Is that correct?” Findling asked Vonnie.

Vonnie replied “no” to that question, and then asked Findling himself, “Who wouldn’t want to get out of jail?”

“I don’t know,” responded Findling. “Maybe somebody that … successfully organized the unintentional assassination of a young man from Savannah whose mom weeps his loss because of you. Maybe that is a reason why you shouldn’t get on your Nikes and bolt out of here. Maybe that is a good reason.”

Prosecutors rested their case in the morning on Thursday (Sept. 3). Durk’s team then called witnesses of their own, many of whom said the cooperators are not to be believed. Shekema Springfield, who claims she knew Vonnie well, testified, “He’s a liar and a thief.” Similarly, OTF Jam’s ex-girlfriend told the jury, “He’s not truthful at all. He’s a manipulator.”

The defense also spent some time on Thursday calling witnesses to rebut the prosecution’s theory that Durk telegraphed the Rondo murder plot in his music. Jurors have heard multiple Durk lyrics throughout the trial, including a portion of his 2022 hit “Ahhh Ha:” “Don’t respond to s–t with Von/ I’m like, ‘f–k it, you trippin’, go get your gun’/ They droppin’ locations, I’m gettin’ it done/ F–k tweetin’, we slidin’, the feds are comin’.”

Durk’s attorneys have argued that these lyrics were not literal, but instead were artistic expression tailored for commercial success. Sanchay Jain, a former senior vp of marketing at Durk’s label Alamo Records, bolstered this argument in his testimony.

“Violence sells in entertainment,” said Jain. “The biggest video game right now, Grand Theft Auto, promotes violence. The biggest movie of the summer is The Odyssey. It promotes violence.”

Durk’s longtime recording engineer, Justin Gibson, testified that the rapper made “Ahhh Ha” in particular to “capitalize off the situation” with Von. The track spent 11 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 18.

“The people on social media really wanted him to have a response, and he just figured because of the momentum he had from other songs and the fact that the label wanted him to put up numbers, that he ought to say something about it and it would get a good reaction,” said Gibson.

Durk’s lawyers rested their case Thursday. The jury is set to return on Tuesday (Sept. 8) for closing arguments, and then they will begin to deliberate. Durk is charged with numerous counts including conspiracy, stalking and murder-for-hire, and he faces up to life in prison if convicted.  

SYDNEY, Australia — Pill testing spaces will be a permanent fixture at music festivals in New South Wales, the most populated state in Australia, after a trial was found to reduce drug‑related harm. 

The NSW government this week confirmed festival-goers would have access to free, anonymous drug testing services, which would roll out at up to 15 events statewide each year.

The Australian Festival Association welcomed the development, which follows a year-long trial. The AFA “has consistently advocated for better tools to reduce drug-related harm,” reads a statement, “and we’re proud to see years of advocacy result in meaningful change.”

This breakthrough for drugs testing on site is “a strong example of what can be achieved when government, industry and health experts work together with safety as the shared goal,” the AFA statement continues.

Through the initiative, trained forensic chemists will be on hand to test samples of pills, capsules, powders, crystals and liquids intended for consumption. The drugs will be analyzed right there, and the party-goer will be informed on the results, including the main components identified and, where possible, an indication of potency.

These are “life-saving services equipping festival goers with crucial information to make safer choices,” the AFA statement continues.

For those who want to dump their gear, amnesty bins will be made available.

Illicit drugs remain illegal in NSW, the state government insists, though personal details won’t be linked to samples, and phones or cameras are not used within the drug checking space to protect privacy.

The Minns Labor Government began music festival-based pill testing trial in early 2025, to clinically gauge its impact on risks and harms associated with the consumption of blackmarket drugs. Officials contracted the University of Sydney to independently evaluate the trial.

According to a statement, ​NSW Health will prioritize those trial-supporting fests where the service is “likely to have the greatest harm reduction impact.”

The rules only apply to NSW, but other states, territories and promoters across the country will watch this situation with interest.

Mobile drug checking was trialed in the Australian Capital Territory at Groovin’ the Moo festivals in 2018 and 2019. Then, Queensland’s drug checking services kicked in at selected festivals and two fixed sites from 2024, but were subsequently shut down when the incoming conversative government discontinued funding. A privately funded drug checking service was planned in Queensland but government legislation in September 2025 blocked it. Victoria’s first drug checking service started in December 2024 at key festivals, with an additional fixed-site service which opened in 2025.

Read more here.

Live Nation’s rivals are urging a federal judge to reject the Department of Justice’s proposal for the live entertainment giant to retain ownership of Ticketmaster with new antitrust guardrails.

AEG and SeatGeek have both submitted public comments criticizing the settlement reached by the federal government a week into Live Nation’s blockbuster antitrust trial this spring. State attorneys general continued with the trial, and a jury ultimately held Live Nation liable for monopolizing the live music industry via artist promotion, venue ownership and ticketing. Live Nation denies those claims and has promised to appeal.

Judge Arun Subramanian is now at a crossroads: He can either resolve the matter via the business changes outlined in the DOJ settlement, or he can order the more drastic and rare remedy of breaking up Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The states are advocating for a total breakup — as is AEG, a major Live Nation competitor that also promotes concerts, owns venues and has a ticketing service.

“The bottom line is simple: as long as Ticketmaster remains vertically integrated with Live Nation, venues will continue to face pressure to choose Ticketmaster because of Live Nation’s control over content,” reads AEG’s public comment, docketed on Thursday (Sept. 3). “The proposed decree does not address that fundamental incentive structure. Divestiture is needed to restore competition.”

While SeatGeek does not expressly push for a Ticketmaster divestiture in its public comment, the ticketing company similarly argues that the DOJ settlement is insufficient to fix Live Nation’s alleged market dominance. AEG and SeatGeek have both been involved throughout the antitrust case, and executives of both companies testified against Live Nation at trial.

One key dispute in the case is whether Live Nation boxes out competition by pressuring venues to sign exclusive primary ticketing agreements with Ticketmaster. The DOJ settlement addresses this by requiring Ticketmaster to offer non-exclusive contracts and by barring Live Nation from withholding concerts in retaliation from those venues that choose rival ticketers like SeatGeek or AEG’s AXS.

AEG and SeatGeek both argue, however, that Live Nation cannot be trusted to refrain from this type of retaliation. They say the company has promised this to the DOJ twice before — both when it merged with Ticketmaster in 2010 and in a follow-up 2020 deal that imposed additional compliance obligations. According to AEG and SeatGeek, Live Nation did not meaningfully change its business practices then, and it won’t now.

“In purporting to offer major concert venues the freedom to switch portions of their primary ticketing business from Ticketmaster to a rival provider, the proposed final judgment ignores the reality that major concert venues already have the freedom to switch all of their business to a rival provider — but have been unwilling to do so for fear of losing Live Nation concert revenue,” writes SeatGeek in its public comment, filed on Aug. 31 and exclusively obtained by Billboard. “This is a feeble gesture masquerading as a serious solution.”

AEG and SeatGeek also both take issue with the portion of the DOJ settlement that would require Ticketmaster to lend its back-end technology to other ticketers. AEG’s comment argues that rather than open up the market, this would have the “perverse” result of further entrenching Ticketmaster’s dominance by making it “the gatekeeper through which competing providers must operate.”

Alongside these public comments, veteran tour promoter Louis Messina filed a response of his own criticizing Live Nation’s DOJ settlement. Messina, whose company Messina Touring operates in partnership with AEG, says the settlement would not fix the high Ticketmaster fees that provide Live Nation with capital to “throw monopoly money at artists in the form of big guarantees” and box out independent promoters.

Messina also argues that while the settlement requires Live Nation to allow indie promoters into the amphitheaters it owns — addressing another key issue in the antitrust case — this provision is “full of loopholes that could easily allow Live Nation to block another promoter’s access.”

“I am worried. While I am of course worried about the survival of my own business, I am more worried about the entire music industry falling into the hands of one company,” writes Messina in his comment, docketed on Thursday. “I care about this business and the artists I work with. They deserve better and so do the fans. The court should reject the consent decree and order actual relief to save the industry.”

Live Nation has consistently maintained that the DOJ settlement is more than sufficient to resolve the claims in the case. Dan Wall, Live Nation’s executive vp of corporate and regulatory affairs, said in a Thursday statement to Billboard, “AEG and SeatGeek are Live Nation’s competitors, and their filings advance their own commercial interests, not those of artists, venues or fans.”

“Much of what they say misrepresents the settlement’s terms,” added Wall. “The Department of Justice negotiated this settlement and has said it delivers meaningful relief for consumers. Nothing in these filings changes our confidence that the court will approve it.”

SOCAN is taking legal action against Suno.

The Canadian music rights organization has filed a legal claim against the AI music generation app, claiming that it has unlawfully infringed on its members’ work. SOCAN is asking the court to “require Suno to comply with copyright law, stop making infringing outputs available” and “respect the rights of music creators and publishers whenever their works are used.”

SOCAN has put forward a subset of 150 AI outputs generated by Suno that largely or fully infringe on material from its member rightsholders, dating back to Suno’s introduction to the Canadian market in 2023.

“Suno launched its service in Canada [in December 2023] without having contacted us, without seeking consent from SOCAN, and any discussions we’ve had after that launch have not proved fruitful,” Andrea Kokonis, chief legal officer and general counsel of SOCAN, tells Billboard Canada. “We want to ensure that our members are paid when their songs are used, and we do want to send a clear signal to AI services that there are consequences when they use music without permission.”

Along with the lawsuit, SOCAN has launched a special website showcasing a number of Suno outputs side-by-side with the songs they are allegedly infringing on. Those include major hits like Tom Cochrane’s “Life is a Highway,” Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi” and even post-hardcore band Alexisonfire’s “Passing Out In America.” Listen here.

“Creators were never asked, never informed, and never given the chance to say no,” the site reads.

Kokonis explains that the lawsuit’s goal is to double down on existing copyright protection, showing that the laws that protect songwriters, composers, and music publishers apply equally in the AI era as they have before. She adds that given the direct competition between outputs generated by Suno and the music created by human artists, it is important for songwriters to be fairly compensated.

“SOCAN has a responsibility to act when the rights of music creators and publishers are put at risk. The evidence shows that the Suno platform has generated and streamed outputs that copy works in our repertoire, and that cannot go unchallenged,” says Jennifer Brown, CEO of SOCAN. “Innovation can’t come at the expense of human creativity. The future of music must belong to the people who make it.”

SOCAN has continuously voiced its defense of copyrighted work and artists’ intellectual property during the rise of AI, notably by leading a nationwide campaign against unlicensed AI music, which was supported by artists like Sarah McLachlan and Mac DeMarco, and speaking at the House of Commons to highlight the importance of defending copyrighted human material. Simultaneously, the company has embraced AI as a tool, recently partnering with Musical AI as a technology partner to help identify AI-generated outputs and properly attribute credit to songwriters and composers when their work is used by AI.

“We do want the message to be clear, songwriters and composers are not afraid of AI,” Kokonis explains. “In fact, music creators are often early adopters of any new technology. In the case of songwriters and composers, many are already using AI as a creative tool and exploring its possibilities, but they need to be paid when their songs are used.”

Suno is under legal fire by numerous labels and companies around the world, a snowball effect that has picked up over the past week. On Monday (Aug. 31), Mexican music label and publisher Gerencia 360 Music sued Suno for also allegedly ripping off songs from its own database to make AI-generated songs, followed by a group of artists led by acclaimed singer-songwriter Jason Isbell, who sued on Tuesday (Sept. 1). American publishing company Round Hill Music is also seeking up to $1 billion in damages from Suno and Anthropic in a new lawsuit filed last week on similar claims, while Universal and Sony were granted permission to add allegations of stream ripping to their blockbuster lawsuit.

The landmark lawsuit in Canada follows major legal action from labels in the U.S., as well as SOCAN’s sister societies overseas. In late 2025, Suno signed a licensing deal with Warner Music Group (WMG) after initially being sued by the label in late 2024 as part of a $500 million joint copyright lawsuit with Universal Music Group (UMG) and Sony, who are still battling Suno in court. Last month, the German court ruled in favour of the rights representation society GEMA, which sued Suno for directly infringing on the copyrights of recorded material within its database, including hits like “Rasputin” by Boney M.

This story was originally published by Billboard Canada.

UMusic Hospitality & Lifestyle (UMHL) and Outernet London are partnering to expand hospitality and entertainment experiences across Denmark Street, central London, the companies announced Wednesday (Sept. 2).

The partnership will see UMHL open UMusic Hotel Denmark Street, the company’s first hotel in the U.K. and its second in Europe, following the opening of UMusic Hotel Madrid in 2022. The hotel is set to open in Q4 of 2026.

The hotel will sit within Outernet’s entertainment district, which includes live music venues Outernet Live and The Lower Third. UMHL will also develop new food concepts and lounge spaces as part of the broader collaboration and will also take over programming and operations at The Lower Third, a 200-capacity basement venue, working with Universal Music Group across its labels and creative partners.

In a statement, Jordi Solé, president of UMHL, said: “Denmark Street holds a special place in music history. For decades, it has been a place where artists found their voice, creativity flourished, and music culture took shape. 

“We are incredibly proud to be part of its next chapter. Together with Outernet, we have the opportunity to honour that legacy by creating hospitality and cultural experiences that inspire discovery, support emerging artists, and ensure this remarkable destination continues to shape the future of music for generations to come.”

Philip O’Ferrall, CEO of Outernet, added: “Music has always been a driving force for Outernet, and we are in a place rooted in musical history. Connecting that heritage with a platform that can reach mass audiences both physically and through our immersive screens and audio technology is what makes this partnership so special. I’m very proud to be working with UMusic Hospitality & Lifestyle, and I know what they will bring to Outernet will be spectacular, transforming the experience of both artists and fans.”

Denmark Street, located in Soho near Tottenham Court Road station, has long been recognized as a key part of London’s musical history. It has hosted a number of guitar and instrument retailers since the 1950s, and was previously home to a number of recording studios and music publishers that were visited by artists including The Rolling Stones and Elton John. The street’s former 12 Bar Club also welcomed performers including Adele and the late Jeff Buckley.

In June, Outernet London unveiled a new identity for its 2,000-capacity venue Outernet Live, which was previously known as HERE. The space sits next to the Outernet District’s flagship The Now Building and its four-story, 360-degree screens, which have been used for immersive events with Oasis and The BRIT Awards and as per an early 2026 report from Outernet, reach approximately 1.5 million people each week.

Tupac Shakur’s family is speaking out after Duane “Keffe D” Davis was found guilty in connection with the rapper’s 1996 murder.

A Las Vegas jury convicted Davis of first-degree murder on Monday, marking the first conviction in the nearly 30-year-old case surrounding Shakur’s killing. Prosecutors alleged that Davis orchestrated the drive-by shooting as retaliation following an altercation involving his nephew and members of Shakur’s entourage earlier that night. Davis now faces the possibility of life in prison.

Following the verdict, Shakur’s family shared a statement expressing gratitude and relief over the outcome. The message paid particular tribute to Shakur’s late mother, Afeni Shakur, recognizing her decadeslong devotion to her son and his legacy.

“The family of Tupac Amaru Shakur is elated and relieved by today’s verdict,” the family said, thanking jurors for their attention to the evidence presented during the trial.

The statement also acknowledged the relatives, friends and fans who have supported Shakur’s family over the years, as well as the marshals and advocates who assisted and protected family members throughout the court proceedings.

While Monday’s verdict brought a major development in one of music’s most closely followed unsolved murder cases, the family emphasized that Shakur’s story and influence extend far beyond the trial.

“While this verdict is decades in the making, this is not the end of the story,” the statement continued. “Tupac’s legacy and impact on the world lives on and we will continue to do everything we can to keep his spirit alive.”

Shakur’s sister, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, was among the family members in the courtroom when the verdict was announced. She became emotional following the decision and later embraced members of the prosecution team.

The conviction comes three decades after Shakur was shot in a drive-by attack in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, 1996. He was 25 years old when he died from his injuries days later. Davis, 63, was the only person criminally charged in connection with the killing.

The family’s statement comes from Shakur’s relatives and not from his estate, which is separate from his family.

Shakur’s influence has endured on the Billboard charts, earning three No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 during his lifetime. Those albums include Me Against the World and All Eyez on Me, while several posthumous releases also topped the chart.

Suno is facing yet another copyright infringement lawsuit, this time alleging its popular AI music model was trained on regional Mexican hits in order to generate Spanish-language songs.

The legal complaint was filed Monday (Aug. 31) by Gerencia 360 Music, an independent regional Mexican record label and publisher. It’s the latest in a string of AI training lawsuits brought against Suno by music rightsholders, including the majors, indies and individual artists.

Like other rightsholders, Gerencia alleges that Suno ripped its music from streaming services and then fed it into the training corpus for an AI model that now allows users to generate new songs with the click of a button. Monday’s lawsuit, however, specifically says Gerencia’s catalog was necessary for Suno to teach its model to create songs in Spanish.

“Gerencia’s works are especially important to Suno because they are hugely popular Spanish language works, which Suno has misappropriated to train its models so they may provide Spanish language songs in response to user queries,” reads the complaint, filed by veteran music litigator Richard Busch. “Without its infringement of Gerencia’s Spanish language copyrighted works, Suno would not have been well-positioned to capture a significant share of the Spanish language AI user market.”

Busch says Gerencia’s catalog includes “some of the most recognizable and commercially valuable songs in the history of Regional Mexican and Latin music,” including works by Adriel Favela, Javier Rosas, Giovanny Ayala, Cornelio Vega y su Dinastia and Noel Torres. The lawsuit is seeking nearly $100 million in damages.

A Suno rep declined to comment on the lawsuit Monday.

Suno’s copyright troubles began in 2024, when the three major labels banded together to sue the AI company for infringing their sound recordings “at an almost unimaginable scale.” Other rightsholders have since jumped in with their own copyright infringement suits against Suno, including a group of indie artists pursuing class action status and production music company Jamendo. Two weeks ago, indie publisher Round Hill Music opened up another case (also authored by Busch).  

Suno maintains that its AI training process was legal under copyright law’s fair use principle, which allows unlicensed works to be reused for transformative purposes. It remains to be seen whether a judge will agree; fair use is an untested legal question at the center of dozens of ongoing AI copyright lawsuits right now.

Meanwhile, Suno has made peace with some big players in the music industry. Warner Music Group (WMG) exited the majors’ lawsuit last fall by inking a landmark settlement that requires to Suno to train a new model on licensed music, and BMG reached a similar deal with Suno earlier this month.