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The Lawsuit Tracker
Every major ongoing dispute involving record labels and the music-industry gatekeepers, in one place, what stage it’s at, the latest development, and what’s at stake. Sourced from public reporting and refreshed on a schedule.
Tracking 6 active disputes · last refreshed 2026-06-04
Drake v. UMG, defamation over 'Not Like Us'
Whether UMG is liable for publishing and promoting Kendrick Lamar's 'Not Like Us,' which Drake alleges falsely portrays him as a child sex offender; foundational question of whether rap diss tracks can constitute actionable defamation.
Latest As of April 17, 2026, Drake filed his reply brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, completing the full briefing cycle; oral argument has not yet been scheduled.
Sony Music v. Suno. AI training copyright infringement (D. Mass.)
Whether AI music generators training on copyrighted recordings without licenses constitutes copyright infringement or fair use; could determine the legality of the entire AI music generation industry.
Latest As of May 21, 2026, UMG and Sony jointly moved to add over 61,000 additional copyrighted recordings to the Massachusetts complaint against Suno; a hearing on Suno's pending summary judgment motion is scheduled for July 2026. Warner and UMG previously settled out of the case (Warner settled with Suno in November 2025; UMG settled with the related Udio defendant in October 2025), leaving Sony as the lone major plaintiff.
Limp Bizkit v. UMG, $200M royalties fraud suit
Allegations that UMG deliberately engineered royalty-accounting software to conceal unpaid artist royalties across its entire catalog, with $200M+ in claimed damages; parallel copyright infringement claim based on UMG's continued distribution after contract termination notice.
Latest As of March 2025, Judge Percy Anderson (C.D. Cal.) denied UMG's motion to dismiss the copyright infringement claims, allowing them to proceed in federal court, while redirecting breach-of-contract and fraud claims to state court; Limp Bizkit filed those claims in Los Angeles County Superior Court on March 24, 2025, and both tracks are in active litigation as of June 2026.
Salt-N-Pepa v. UMG, copyright termination / masters reclaim
Whether hip-hop artists who signed to an intermediary label in the 1980s can invoke Section 203 of the Copyright Act to terminate UMG's ownership of master recordings including 'Push It'; broader precedent on who controls catalog originating from work-for-hire and third-party-signed deals.
Latest As of May 5, 2026, UMG filed its response brief with the Second Circuit, arguing Salt-N-Pepa's termination bid 'lacks legal foundation' because the duo never themselves executed the original copyright transfer; the duo can still file a reply brief before oral argument is scheduled.
33 States v. Live Nation / Ticketmaster, antitrust monopoly (remedies phase)
Potential forced divestiture of Ticketmaster from Live Nation, venue sell-offs, fee caps, and structural breakup of the live-music industry's dominant vertically integrated conglomerate; billions in consumer damages.
Latest Following the April 15, 2026 jury verdict finding Live Nation/Ticketmaster liable for monopolization on all counts, the plaintiff states filed their remedies package in late May 2026 seeking Ticketmaster divestiture and venue sell-offs; key briefing dates include a June 18 opposition deadline, a July 2 reply deadline, and a July 30 status conference, with a remedies trial no earlier than February 2027.
UMG / Concord / ABKCO v. Anthropic, $3B AI lyrics copyright suit
$3 billion in alleged copyright infringement damages; whether AI large language models can train on and reproduce song lyrics without license; outcome could govern every LLM's relationship with song publishing catalogs.
Latest As of March–April 2026, plaintiffs filed a motion for partial summary judgment arguing Anthropic's fair-use defense fails as a matter of law; the RIAA, NMPA, and six other music-industry groups filed an amicus brief on March 30, 2026 urging the court to reject Anthropic's fair-use argument as 'inexcusable.'
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Methodology: entries are compiled from public reporting (court-records coverage by outlets like Billboard, Reuters, Variety, and Music Business Worldwide), allegations are allegations until a court rules. This tracker is not exhaustive and is not legal reporting of record; see each entry’s sources for the underlying coverage. Spot an error or a missing dispute? Tell us - corrections take priority. For the history behind these fights, see the case archive.