Universal Music Group has sued DistroKid in federal court in Delaware, accusing the DIY distributor of copyright infringement and of deceptive trade practices for passing off masses of AI-generated tracks as artist releases. MBW's reading of the 52-page complaint pulls out the figures behind the claim.
The biggest one: according to UMG, DistroKid sent close to 12 million tracks to one unnamed major streaming service in six months, more than half of everything that service received and more than all other distributors combined. Its busiest account, Lofi Chill, is said to have put out 4,562 tracks in a year; Chill Flow Radio and Mellow Vibes Radio released roughly 1,900 and 1,600, and UMG says technical analysis found over 97% of their catalogues to be unedited Suno generations. Chart data cited alongside shows about three quarters of the AI tracks submitted to SIQA's charts in early 2026 came through DistroKid.
The case runs on two theories. The copyright counts cover copies of UMG recordings: the exhibits list 1,000 works, from Billie Eilish and Kendrick Lamar to Motown classics, which at the $150,000 statutory maximum puts a theoretical ceiling of $150 million on damages, with examples such as a slowed Ellie Goulding song under its original title. The AI tracks copy nothing, so UMG goes after them under Delaware's deceptive trade practices law, stating in a footnote that clearly labelled AI music is not its target. Because that law governs competitors, the complaint spends pages arguing DistroKid works like a record company.
On intent, UMG says DistroKid staff concede ownership when conflicts surface in YouTube's Content ID, then keep delivering the same recording to other services. It also alleges DistroKid distributed tracks from an account another distributor had dropped in April after flagging 196 of them for fraud in a shared industry database that DistroKid helped found.
Beyond damages, UMG wants the tracks pulled from every service and repeat infringers' accounts closed, and calls the 1,000 works the tip of the iceberg. The suit arrived a day after IFPI launched its Streaming Integrity Initiative for distributors, which DistroKid did not sign.
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