Reservoir filed federal lawsuits on Wednesday, Oct. 21, accusing Suno and Anthropic of using copyrighted songs to train AI music systems, in a legal push that widens the fight over who controls the sound of machine-made music. The cases say the companies copied famous works by Madonna, Johnny Cash and Joni Mitchell without permission.
The dispute matters now because Suno has already spent the year trying to recast itself as something closer to a partner for the music business, while rights holders say its rise was built on unlawful copying. Reservoir said the companies effectively stole songs to build AI that could generate new ones, and Richard Busch wrote that Suno made illicit copies of millions of copyrighted musical works before turning them into a $10-per-month platform that could produce complete songs.
Busch’s filing goes further than a routine infringement claim. He said Suno’s business model was “admittedly and clearly” to infringe first, grow fast and settle later, adding that “seeking forgiveness is clearly more profitable than permission.” Reservoir also said Suno’s platform was never meant to help artists make music, but was meant to replace them by reaching their listeners with AI-generated substitutes that copy the originals.
The lawsuits name specific songs and broader catalogs. Reservoir says the disputed material includes Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi, Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire and Madonna’s Papa Don’t Preach, along with other tracks by Glenn Miller, Kings of Leon and Evanescence. Anthropic, the AI giant behind Claude, is sued in the same filing, which reflects how the music industry’s legal campaign is no longer confined to one company or one product.
That is the friction inside Suno’s defense. Warner Music Group settled its case against the company last year, and Suno later reached similar deals with BMG and Believe. Yet the company launched a new model earlier this year and described it as a partnership with the music business, even as Universal Music Group and Sony Music continue to sue it in federal court. Reservoir says the new posture does not erase what came before.
Anthropic responded through a spokesperson, who said: “We disagree with the allegations and intend to defend this case vigorously.” Suno declined to comment. The broader legal question is whether training AI on existing songs can be treated as fair use or whether it is simply copying at industrial scale. For now, Reservoir has forced that question back into court, and it has done so in a way that ties the latest generation of AI music tools to the old logic of Elvis Presley-era stardom: if the catalog is used, someone gets paid, or someone sues.
