Key holding or allegation
In April 2026 the court declined to dismiss the DMCA section 1201 circumvention claim concerning alleged acquisition of training material.
Why it matters
Important AIGC case connecting training-data acquisition to anti-circumvention law.
Facts
Record labels alleged that Udio acquired protected recordings and used them to train an AI music generator, including alleged technological circumvention.
Issues before the court
Whether the section 1201 circumvention theory and related copyright claims were sufficiently pleaded.
What the court did not decide
The ruling did not decide whether Udio model training itself is fair use or whether outputs ultimately infringe.
Procedural timeline
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Motion-to-dismiss ruling: Court refused to dismiss a DMCA section 1201 circumvention claim based on alleged acquisition of protected recordings for AI training.