Apple asks a court to block Suno's subpoena, saying it already handed over data on Suno tracks

Apple wants out of the discovery fight between Suno and the record labels. It has asked a federal court in Northern California to quash Suno’s subpoena, or at least grant a protective order, Digital Music News reported on October 26, 2026.

Apple’s main argument is that it already did its part. It says it handed over data and declarations about Suno-generated tracks on Apple Music, and that the rest of Suno’s requests are irrelevant, overbroad and burdensome.

“Apple has cooperated with both parties for more than a year, exchanging over 90 emails and having over 10 conferrals, to negotiate a reasonable scope of non-party discovery and to provide the relevant subset,” the filing reads. “And Apple has complied.”

The motion isn’t on CourtListener yet, so the quotes here come from Digital Music News. Here’s what Suno asked for.

What Suno’s subpoena asks Apple Music to hand over

Suno wants Apple to answer questions about how Apple Music pays the labels and how it treats AI music. A second Digital Music News report lists the topics:

• The “contractual provisions guaranteeing minimum royalties paid” to Universal Music Group and Sony Music.
• Apple Music’s contract terms for generative AI content.
• Whether Apple calculates royalties differently for AI and non-AI audio.
• How common streaming fraud is on Apple Music.
• Projections of Apple Music’s commercial viability without the labels’ catalogs.

The logic on Suno’s side: Universal and Sony argue that AI songs flood streaming services and pull royalties away from their recordings. Suno wants the numbers to test that, the same reason it went after the MLC’s play data from 8 services, Apple included.

Apple calls the subpoena “irrelevant, overbroad, and disproportionate.” It says the requests seek highly confidential competitive business information, and that anything Suno still needs it can get from Universal and Sony directly.

A subpoena fight goes to the federal court where the company has to comply, and Apple is based in Cupertino. That’s why this one sits in the Northern District of California as case 5:26-mc-80303, far from the Boston courtroom where the lawsuit itself is.

Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen recused herself from it on October 21, so whichever judge is assigned next will hear the motion. It’s on the calendar for December 1, 2026.

UMG v. Suno lawsuit status: who has been subpoenaed so far

The lawsuit itself, UMG Recordings v. Suno, has been in Boston federal court since June 2024, with Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV presiding. Fact discovery closed on September 30, 2026 for everything except the labels’ YouTube stream-ripping claim, which closes on November 20.

Since then, most of the fighting has moved to companies outside the case:

• Lightspeed Venture Partners, Suno’s Series B lead, is trying to quash the labels’ investor subpoena in Boston.
• Menlo Ventures got the labels’ subpoena in August, and on October 26 a judge let the labels depose ex-Menlo investor C.C. Gong over a deleted post about moving her listening to Suno.
• DistroKid faces the labels’ motion to compel its AI-detection counts in Manhattan.
• The MLC faces Suno’s motion to compel streaming data in Nashville.
• Apple now wants Suno’s subpoena quashed in California.

Digital Music News also counts Bond Capital, which led Suno’s Series D, among the Suno backers the labels have gone after. Inside the case, Universal and Sony have spent months trying to read Suno’s Warner settlement contract.

Every one of these fights comes back to the market question in Suno’s fair use defense: do AI songs take plays and money from the labels’ recordings? Expert reports start on January 28, 2027, and dispositive motions, where a fair use ruling would come, are due June 22, 2027. I log every step on the Suno lawsuit tracker.

What Apple Music shows listeners about Suno tracks today

In August, Apple told partners it will add Made With AI labels to Apple Music later this year. They only go on tracks that labels and distributors tag themselves through Apple’s AI Transparency Tags, and I haven’t seen Apple announce that they’re live yet.

Apple can spot AI music on its own, though. Apple Music VP Oliver Schusser said in April that Apple built its own technology to detect AI-generated uploads, and that more than a third of its monthly intake is 100% AI, as Music Ally reported. He put AI music below 0.5% of listening.

The Suno data Apple produced went to the lawyers, not to the public. It only becomes public if someone puts it in an unsealed filing.