Indie artists' Udio class action survives dismissal, and a judge moves the case from Illinois to New York
A federal judge has refused to dismiss the copyright class action independent artists brought against Udio, and in the same order moved the case from Illinois to the Southern District of New York. The decision landed on Wednesday, August 5, 2026.
Udio wanted the case gone. It got a change of address instead.
What the judge decided in Woulard v. Udio
Both rulings showed up in a single docket entry, first reported by Digital Music News: the dismissal request denied, the venue changed.
The named plaintiff is David Woulard, who fronts the band Attack the Sound. He and the other filing parties brought the complaint in an Illinois federal court in October 2025, alongside a substantially similar suit against Suno that also lists Woulard as a plaintiff.
The three claims are unauthorized training on the plaintiffs’ music, DMCA violations committed during that training, and dilution of the market with unapproved soundalike audio. The Illinois filing also carried biometric-privacy and right-of-publicity claims over alleged use of artists’ voiceprints, which is why Bloomberg Law covered the transfer as a novel biometric suit rather than a straight copyright one.
Why Udio pointed at the Tony Justice cases
Part of Udio’s dismissal push, made back in April, leaned on how much the Woulard complaint resembles an earlier pair of artist-led class actions against Suno and Udio.
Those cases were filed months beforehand in 2025, count trucker-musician Tony Justice among the plaintiffs, and are led by entertainment attorney Krystle Delgado. Udio told the court the overlap between the two sets of suits was hard to miss.
The judge was not persuaded enough to end the case over it. What Udio did get is a courtroom in Manhattan, a few blocks from where Sony’s own Udio litigation and the AFM’s contract fight with Universal are already being heard.
What survives when the majors settle and indies do not
Universal and Warner both settled with Udio and walked away with licensing deals. Independent artists got no such exit, because nobody offered them one.
That is the practical shape of this ruling. The majors resolved their Udio exposure through business terms. The artists still litigating are the ones without a catalog big enough to negotiate with, and their case is now the live copyright question in front of a New York judge.
Full status, parties, and the running timeline live in the independent artists’ Suno and Udio case tracker.
Frequently asked questions
Who is David Woulard, the lead plaintiff in Woulard v. Udio?
David Woulard is the frontman of the band Attack the Sound and an independent recording artist. He is the named plaintiff on two class actions filed in October 2025, one against Udio and a substantially similar one against Suno.
Why was Woulard v. Udio transferred from Illinois to New York?
The judge granted the venue change in the same docket entry that denied Udio's dismissal request. The Southern District of New York already holds several of the major AI music copyright actions, including the label suits and the AFM contract case, which concentrates the litigation in one court.
What claims does the Woulard class action bring against Udio?
Three. That Udio trained on the plaintiffs' music without authorization, that it violated the DMCA as part of that training process, and that it diluted the market by releasing unapproved soundalike audio that competes with the originals.
How is Woulard v. Udio different from the Tony Justice class action against Suno and Udio?
The Tony Justice actions were filed months earlier in 2025 and are led by entertainment attorney Krystle Delgado. The Woulard suits cover overlapping ground, and the defendants have pointed to the similarity between the two sets of cases.
About the author
Covering AI music tools, industry shifts, and news for music creators and professionals. Twice-weekly newsletter at aimusicpreneur.com.
