UMG sues DistroKid over alleged copyright infringement, deceptive practices

The 52-page complaint was filed in a Delaware federal court on 16 September. The action comes a day after the announcement of the Streaming Integrity Initiative (SII), an industry programme involving major music companies and other partners that aims to tackle fraudulent streaming activity.

DistroKid is not listed among the initial participants in the SII.

A significant part of UMG’s complaint concerns the alleged distribution of AI-generated music at scale. The label claims that the digital music economy has increasingly been affected by what it describes as mass-produced, search-optimised and copyright-infringing material.

“DistroKid promotes itself to the public and Digital Services as a leading music distributor for artist-backed releases,” UMG said in its complaint. “But DistroKid’s representations are made of air. In actuality, DistroKid is flooding platforms with AI-generated ‘slop’ that siphons revenue and listeners from the legitimate artists and rightsholders.”

UMG cited several accounts that it alleges have uploaded unusually large volumes of music. According to the complaint, an account operating as “Lofi Chill” released 4,562 tracks over a 12-month period, while “Chill Flow Radio” and “Mellow Vibes Radio” released 1,901 and 1,615 tracks respectively.

UMG said technical analysis of the catalogues indicated that more than 97% of the tracks associated with Chill Flow Radio and more than 98% of those linked to Mellow Vibes Radio were generated using Suno, an AI music-generation platform.

The label also alleges that DistroKid has accepted accounts associated with individuals or entities previously flagged by the Music Fights Fraud Alliance for suspected streaming fraud.

Another allegation concerns so-called ISRC theft, in which an unauthorised recording is submitted using the International Standard Recording Code assigned to an existing recording. UMG claims this practice can divert streams and royalties from the legitimate rights holder.

The complaint cites an alleged example involving a DistroKid-distributed track titled ‘Juice Newton’ by an artist identified as “Candy DuIfer”. UMG claims the recording carried the same ISRC as ‘Angel of the Morning’ by Juice Newton.

UMG also alleges that DistroKid has distributed unauthorised remixes and speed-altered versions of commercially released recordings, tracks using copied artwork, and recordings containing instrumental elements taken from copyrighted works with new vocals added.

The company said it had identified nearly 2,000 allegedly infringing recordings distributed through DistroKid. It also argued that further discovery during the case could identify a larger number of recordings that had not been submitted to rights-management systems such as YouTube's Content ID.

According to UMG, notifications concerning recordings that allegedly matched its copyrighted material on digital streaming platforms did not always result in their removal from DistroKid's distribution network.

“Here is where it gets egregious: after acknowledging that it does not have rights in the track, DistroKid continues to distribute that exact same recording to other Digital Services,” UMG said in the complaint.

The label alleges that continued distribution enables DistroKid to collect revenue from recordings that UMG says should generate income for legitimate rights holders.

UMG is seeking an injunction preventing DistroKid from making representations that allegedly give the impression that most of the recordings it distributes are backed by artists. It is also seeking damages, removal of allegedly infringing recordings and termination of the relevant accounts.

DistroKid has rejected the allegations and said it intends to defend the case.

“DistroKid is proud to amplify millions of independent artists from around the world and help them bring their music to audiences everywhere,” the company said in a statement. “We take copyright protection, fraud prevention and the integrity of the music ecosystem seriously, and work closely with digital streaming platforms, rightsholders and other industry partners on these efforts.”

The company said its distribution system includes protections designed to address copyright and fraud concerns and that it continues to invest in those measures as technology and music-making practices evolve.

“We strongly disagree with UMG’s allegations and are disappointed that it chose litigation rather than established industry processes to address these issues,” DistroKid said. “We are confident in our practices and intend to defend DistroKid vigorously.”

The lawsuit adds to growing tensions within the music industry over AI-generated music, streaming fraud and the responsibilities of digital distributors as the volume of music uploaded to streaming platforms continues to increase.