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Markdown edition

# Reservoir sues Suno over AI music training

> Reservoir’s complaint seeks compensation and restrictions on use of copyrighted compositions.

By BIGCHANGE.AI Editorial

Published: 2026-10-25T22:35:45.375Z
Updated: 2026-10-25T22:35:45.375Z
Canonical: https://bigchange.ai/blog/reservoir-suno-composition-rights-ai-training-complaint

![Conceptual charcoal illustration of an upright piano with blank music staves on its rest.](https://bigchange.ai/api/media/file/reservoir-composition-piano-hero-v1.png)
AI-generated conceptual illustration by BIG CHANGE.

Music publisher Reservoir Media Management and two affiliates [sued Suno](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.481740/gov.uscourts.cand.481740.1.0_1.pdf) in California federal court on October 21, 2026, alleging unauthorized training and infringing outputs involving 1,050 compositions.

## The big change

- **What changed:** Songwriters’ rights in the underlying music are central to Reservoir’s challenge.
- **Why it matters:** A composition and a recording have separate copyrights. For songwriters, that distinction determines which creative work a claim protects.
- **What to watch:** Whether relief reaches training copies matters for the material supporting future generation.

## Composition rights

The [U.S. Copyright Office](https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ56a.pdf) distinguishes the music and accompanying lyrics from a recorded performance. Registering one does not automatically register the other. That distinction lets readers identify the rights at issue before interpreting a claim about an AI system’s music library.

## The allegations

The [complaint](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.481740/gov.uscourts.cand.481740.1.0_1.pdf) alleges bypassed access controls and removed copyright information. It seeks an injunction, impoundment or destruction of unauthorized copies, including those in model weights, and a training-data accounting.

Reservoir cites reporting about leaked code. [404 Media’s July 15 report](https://www.404media.co/hack-reveals-suno-ai-music-generator-scraped-youtube-deezer-and-genius/) describes material supplied by a hacker, including code appearing to date from 2023 and 2024. BIG CHANGE read the publicly accessible portion; the rest requires membership. We have not authenticated the underlying code.

[Music Business Worldwide reported on October 22](https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/reservoir-sues-suno-for-infringment-over-1050-songs-including-tracks-by-joni-mitchell-johnny-cash-madonna-and-more/) that Suno had said the earlier incident primarily concerned outdated code it no longer used. That historical statement does not establish its response to this complaint. BIG CHANGE has not verified that response or the current court proceedings.

## What the damages figure means

Reservoir [seeks](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.481740/gov.uscourts.cand.481740.1.0_1.pdf) actual losses and attributable profits or, alternatively, $157.5 million in maximum willful statutory damages. It also requests other relief.

Under [17 U.S.C. §504](https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html#504), the ordinary statutory range is $750 to $30,000 for a work. A court may increase it to $150,000 when willful infringement is proved. The increase is discretionary. Actual damages and profits attributable to infringement are a separate alternative; the profits calculation excludes amounts already counted as actual damages.

The calculation depends on legal findings about liability and willfulness, as well as the works covered. Multiplying a list of compositions by the highest statutory amount cannot establish a loss or predict an award. An injunction is another kind of remedy: [section 502](https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html#502) lets a court restrict infringement.

## Sources

- [Complaint](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.481740/gov.uscourts.cand.481740.1.0_1.pdf) — October 21. Allegations and requested remedies; no finding.
- [Exhibit A](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.481740/gov.uscourts.cand.481740.1.1.pdf) — October 21. Composition list.
- [Copyright Office, Circular 56A](https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ56a.pdf) — Explains the separate copyrights in compositions and recordings, including what each registration covers.
- [Copyright Act, sections 502 and 504](https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html#504) — Sets out injunction authority and damages alternatives. These provisions do not decide this dispute.
- [404 Media, July 15](https://www.404media.co/hack-reveals-suno-ai-music-generator-scraped-youtube-deezer-and-genius/) — Original reporting on the code incident. Only the public portion was accessible; the underlying leaked files were not examined.
- [Music Business Worldwide, October 22](https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/reservoir-sues-suno-for-infringment-over-1050-songs-including-tracks-by-joni-mitchell-johnny-cash-madonna-and-more/) — Provides the earlier Suno statement about the code incident; it is not a current response to Reservoir’s filing.