Latest news with #SonyMusicEntertainment
TechCrunch
3 days ago
- Business
- TechCrunch
Major record labels are reportedly in licensing talks with AI firms Udio and Suno
In Brief Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment are in talks to license their work to AI startups Udio and Suno, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The deals would set forth a framework for how AI companies compensate artists for their work. The record labels are pushing to receive a small amount of equity in Suno and Udio. Udio and Suno allow aspiring music artists to receive an audio recording via prompts that describe sounds or songs, such as 'a modern country ballad about unrequited love.' Any deal would help to settle lawsuits between the music companies and AI startups. The labels sued Udio and Suno last year for copyright infringement. Both sides are in talks to see if they can agree on terms, as opposed to continuing legal fights. The music companies are pushing to get more control of the use of their work, while the AI startups want flexibility to experiment, the report notes.
Bloomberg
3 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Record Labels in Talks to License Music to AI Firms Udio, Suno
Major music companies are in talks to license their work to artificial intelligence startups Udio and Suno, deals that would establish a framework for how AI companies compensate recording artists for their work, according to people familiar with the discussions. Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment are pushing to collect license fees for their work and also receive a small amount of equity in Suno and Udio, two leaders among a crop of companies that use generative AI to help make music. Any deal would help settle lawsuits between the two sides, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks could fall apart.
Reuters
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Reuters
Mariah Carey asks for legal fees in 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' case
April 3 (Reuters) - Pop singer Mariah Carey, Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Corp on Thursday said they are seeking more than $180,000 in legal fees, opens new tab after prevailing in a copyright dispute over her holiday megahit "All I Want for Christmas Is You." U.S. District Judge Monica Almadani in Los Angeles had ruled last month that the writers of Vince Vance and the Valiants' "All I Want for Christmas Is You" failed to show that their 1989 country song was similar enough to Carey's to support their copyright infringement lawsuit. Almadani also granted Carey and her co-defendants' request for sanctions against Andy Stone, who performs as Vince Vance, and Troy Powers, the co-writer of the 1989 song, finding that Stone and Powers' lawyers made outdated legal arguments and stated facts without evidence. Carey and her co-defendants said they are entitled to $185,602.30 in attorney fees to enforce the sanction. Lawyers for Stone and Powers did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did lawyers for Carey and her co-defendants Sony and Universal. Lawyers for Kobalt Music Publishing America, another defendant, declined to comment. Most of the work on the defense side was handled by lawyers from Davis Wright Tremaine, who represented Carey, Sony Music Entertainment and Universal, according to the fee motion. The lead partner of that team, Peter Anderson, billed $995 per hour. Vince Vance and the Valiants' "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was released in 1989 and reached the Billboard country charts during holiday seasons in the 1990s. Carey's song appeared on her 1994 album "Merry Christmas" and has since become a popular standard, topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart every holiday season since 2019. Stone and Powers sued Carey in 2023, alleging her song copied theirs and requested at least $20 million in damages. Carey responded last year that the songs were "completely different" and argued that any similar elements were common to many Christmas songs, such as "snow, mistletoe, presents under Christmas trees, and wanting a loved one for Christmas."
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mariah Carey Prevails as Judge Dismisses $20 Million ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You' Copyright Lawsuit
Mariah Carey is now two for two, as a Los Angeles federal judge granted her request for summary judgment in the latest copyright lawsuit over her holiday hit 'All I Want for Christmas Is You,' and dismissed the case entirely. The suit, filed in November by songwriter Troy Powers and country singer Andy Stone, who performs under the stage name Vince Vance with the band Vince Vance and the Valiants, said the 1994 classic infringed on a song they wrote together in 1989 with the same title. Stone seeks $20 million in damages. Their lawsuit named Carey, Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group as defendants and demanded $20 million in damages. It was actually the duo's second attempt to sue over the song. Their previous lawsuit, which also demanded $20 million, in 2023. But in the decision filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, obtained by TheWrap, Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani ruled that the plaintiffs were unable to prove there were sufficient objective similarities between their song and Carey's. Almadani also agreed the defense's argument Carey's 1994 song made use of tropes that existed in Christmas songs long before 1989. 'Our client retained two of the most accomplished experts teaching music at two of the United States top universities and did not file until in a blind process both opined that there was infringement,' Gerald Fox, the attorney representing the plaintifs, said in a statement provided to USA Today. 'Sadly, it appears that the district courts routinely dismiss most plaintiff's copyright cases.' Fox told the outlet they are considering re-filing. Carey, Sony and UMG have not released any statements. 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' was included on her first holiday album, 'Merry Christmas,' in 1994. Carey cowrote the song with Walter Afanasieff. The post Mariah Carey Prevails as Judge Dismisses $20 Million 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' Copyright Lawsuit appeared first on TheWrap.
USA Today
21-03-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Judge dismisses copyright lawsuit against Mariah Carey's 'All I Want For Christmas is You'
Judge dismisses copyright lawsuit against Mariah Carey's 'All I Want For Christmas is You' Show Caption Hide Caption Taylor Swift, Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga and win iHeartRadio Awards Taylor Swift, Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga and more took home wins at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards. A federal judge in Los Angeles sided with Mariah Carey in a lawsuit alleging she illegally copied elements of her holiday classic "All I Want For Christmas Is You" from a song of the same name that released three years prior. Louisiana songwriter Andy Stone, who professionally goes by Vince Vance, and Tennessee native Troy Powers claim they wrote their "All I Want For Christmas Is You" in 1988 and released in 1989. Carey released her megahit just ahead of the 1994 holiday season, which has since received routine mass popularity every year. On Nov. 1, 2023, the pair filed a $20 million lawsuit against the pop star, co-writer Walter Afanasieff and label Sony Music Entertainment. The suit alleged Carey's song copied melodies, lyrics and other musical elements including the song's "extended comparison between a loved one and trappings of seasonal luxury." However, U.S. District Judge Monica Almadani ruled Wednesday that music experts could not prove enough objective similarity between the two songs through what's called an extrinsic test. Almadani granted Carey's request for summary judgment without the need to go to trial agreeing with the defense's claims that the 1994 song uses common tropes associated with Christmas songs that existed prior to 1989. USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Carey, Afanasieff and Sony Music for comment on the ruling. Attorney representing lawsuit call ruling disappointing Stone and Power's attorney Gerald Fox called the Wednesday ruling a "disappointment," adding that most music copyright cases meet a similar outcome. He said his client is considering bringing the litigation to the Circuit Court level over the next week. The court dismissed testimonies by Fox's musicology experts Dr. Matthew Sakakeeny and Robert W. Fink, therefore leaving the defense's arguments unrebutted. "Our client retained two of the most accomplished experts teaching music at two of the United States top universities and did not file until in a blind process both opined that there was infringement," Fox said in a statement to USA TODAY. "Sadly, it appears that the district courts routinely dismiss most plaintiff's copyright cases." Fox has formerly represented clients who sued Taylor Swift for copyright infringement over the song "Shake It Off" in a case that ended with an undisclosed settlement. What did the lawsuit say? The lawsuit is Vance's second to be dismissed after he filed and later dropped the first one in 2022 with allegations focused on "unique linguistic structure." The latest suit alleged that Vance and Powers' version of the song charted several times throughout the '90s, implying Carey and Afanasieff "undoubtedly had access" to take components of it. They also alleged the pair had copied the title of the song arguing that "in 1988 it was, in context, distinctive. Moreover, the combination of the specific chord progression in the melody paired with the verbatim hook was a greater than 50% clone of Vance's original work, in both lyric choice and chord expressions." Vance alleged his song charted on the Billboard Hot Country Chart in January of 1994, nine months before Carey's song debuted. "(This) points to the overwhelming likelihood that Carey and Afanasieff both career musicians and songwriters, who knew the importance of charting on Billboard, had access to the Vance work prior to the composition of the infringing work in question," according to the lawsuit. Contributing: Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY
