Suno Targets Apple’s AI Deals

Suno fought Apple’s bid to block testimony on October 27, tying four narrowed topics to its fair use and copyright misuse defenses, Digital Music News reported.

The questions covered label licensing and AI talks, Apple’s prospects without major catalogs, streaming fraud and communications about the case, including label agents.

Suno accused Universal Music Group and Sony Music of using their catalogs to win AI restrictions. Its filing targeted “negotiations to restrict Apple’s ability to offer AI-generated content,” according to the report. The company also pointed to guaranteed royalties and rules keeping AI tracks outside royalty pools.

Apple had already pushed back on how much of its business Suno could examine. As AllHipHop reported, Apple argued that the demand reached private commercial information and that the labels themselves could provide relevant evidence. Its position was that it had supplied data about AI music on the service.

Fair use turns in part on what a use does to the market for a copyrighted work and what that work is worth. That is one of four factors in federal copyright law. The others concern why and how the work was used, what kind of work it is and how much was taken, including the importance of that portion. The law also calls for weighing whether the use serves a commercial purpose or nonprofit education.

The labels’ broader case accused Suno of using their recordings to train its tools without permission. They also argued that the resulting AI tracks competed with those recordings. Suno claimed fair use. For rappers, singers and producers, the stakes include the streams their recordings draw and the money tied to that listening. Warner Music Group, which initially joined the lawsuit, settled with Suno in 2025.

A separate lawsuit showed how closely that fight touched rap production. Music publisher Reservoir accused Suno of generating tracks with producer tags, the brief audio signatures that identify beatmakers. The publisher sought $157.5 million over 1,050 works, AllHipHop previously reported. That case was separate from the Universal and Sony lawsuit behind Apple’s testimony dispute.

Apple’s request to cancel the testimony demand or protect its information was listed for December 1.