If you’ve been curious about AI music tools like Suno, or you’ve started using it for songwriting and demos, there are a few things you need to know about their updated terms of service.
Since Suno recently partnered with Warner Music Group, their fine print quietly changed. As technology advances, staying hyper-aware of your rights as an artist isn’t optional anymore.
So let’s break down what the terms actually say, what they mean for you, and my recommendations on how to use Suno without compromising your work.
What You Own vs. What You Grant
Suno’s terms are clear that your pre-existing intellectual property (your input to the platform) remains yours. If you write lyrics, compose a melody, or create chord progressions before uploading them, basic copyright law protects those elements.
But here’s the catch.
When you submit anything to Suno, whether that’s lyrics, audio, melodies, or prompts, you grant them a license that’s worth reading carefully:
“A worldwide, non-exclusive, fully paid-up, sublicensable, assignable, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use, reproduce, store, modify, distribute, create derivative works based on, perform, display, communicate, transmit and otherwise make available any and all Content... including... to train, develop, fine-tune or otherwise improve the Service and any related artificial intelligence or machine learning models.”1
Translation: The moment you upload your original lyrics or melody to Suno, you’re giving them permission to use that work to improve their AI. Forever; for free. And they can sublicense that right to others.
Let that sink in. Your phrasing, your melodic choices, your lyrical structures become part of the training data that helps Suno generate music for everyone else.
Suno’s CEO has suggested that not all user inputs directly train the model in the way people assume. From a technical standpoint, training on low-quality user submissions would pollute the model. But the terms of service explicitly reserve the right to use your submissions for training purposes. The legal language protects them, not you.
As much as we might want to cry theft, it’s not theft if you agreed to it. That’s why reading the fine print matters.
My personal advice: never upload your entire song to an AI platform if you care about your ownership rights. That might sound extreme, but it’s the safest position.
That said, you can still use these tools strategically. I recently started experimenting with Suno, and I only input prompts to work on a part for a song. Never the full song. A guitar texture here, a drum idea there. That way, the platform never has access to my complete work. And when I do use a part generated from Suno, I recreate it all in my DAW entirely.
Ownership Depends on What You Pay (But It’s Not What You Think)
The terms make a clear distinction between tiers.
If you’re on a paid Pro plan, Suno assigns you their rights in the output. You can release commercially, distribute to streaming platforms, monetize, and license for sync.
If you’re on the free or basic tier, you can only use outputs for personal, non-commercial purposes. You must credit Suno and you don’t own what’s generated.
But here’s what’s hidden in the fine print about “ownership” on the Pro plan.
The Fine Print:
The ToS states: “Suno assigns to you all of its right, title and interest in and to any Output owned by Suno.”
Translation: You own what Suno owns. The problem? Suno might not own anything copyrightable in the first place. Courts are still deciding whether AI-generated content qualifies for copyright protection. If it doesn’t, you’re getting commercial rights to something with no legal protection.
The ToS also states: “Due to the nature of machine learning, Output may not be unique across users and the Service may generate the same or similar output for a third party.”
Translation: Someone else could prompt Suno tomorrow and get nearly identical output as yours. You’d have no legal claim against them.
What This Could Actually Look Like:
Scenario 1: You release a Suno track and it starts gaining traction. Another user prompts something nearly identical and releases it the same week. You can’t file a takedown because you can’t claim infringement. You both have “commercial use rights” to something neither of you owns.
Scenario 2: A music supervisor wants to license your track for a TV placement. They ask you to prove you own the copyright. You can’t and they pass because the legal uncertainty isn’t worth the risk. Sync deals require clear ownership chains.
Scenario 3: You build a catalog of 50 tracks using Suno over two years. You want to sell your masters or license your catalog to a publisher. But there’s nothing to sell. No transferable copyright means no asset. The music you made has no long-term value beyond what you already earned from streams.
The bottom line: AI-generated music might get you faster results, but there’s a price to pay. Commercial use rights let you release music today. Copyright ownership protects you tomorrow. With AI-generated output, you may only have the first.
Use platforms like Suno as a tool, but don’t rely on them to create full songs. Always put your own DNA in it. Your lyrics, your melodies, your human authorship in your own DAW. That’s what’s copyrightable.
The Platform Flagging Problem
Here’s something the ToS doesn’t tell you, but distribution platforms will.
Many distributors are now stamping music as “AI-generated” in their metadata, and platforms like Deezer automatically detects it. Even if only one song on an album used AI, the entire project can be branded as containing AI-generated content.
As AI detection improves, this metadata will only get stronger and more widespread. Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube are all watching how AI music evolves, and policies around disclosure, monetization, and content ID systems are shifting.
For self-label artists building long-term careers, being flagged as an AI artist could affect how your music is perceived, surfaced, and monetized.
The Arbitration Clause: Why This Could Cost You Money
If you’ve been following the conversation around AI and music, you’ve probably heard the concern: platforms like Suno may have scraped publicly available music to train their models without consent, compensation or credit.
Right now, there are multiple active lawsuits against Suno for exactly this. The major labels (Sony, Universal, Warner) filed their lawsuit in June 2024, which most were lifted recently since their partnerships with Suno/Udio.2 In June 2025, independent country artist Tony Justice filed a class action specifically representing indie artists, arguing that musicians whose music was scraped have been “left without a seat at the table” in the major label litigation.3 That lawsuit now has nearly 1,300 artists signed on as plaintiffs, with potential statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work.
Here’s where Suno’s ToS becomes significant. When you sign up, you agree to this:
“YOU AND SUNO AGREE THAT EACH OF US MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR PROCEEDING.”
Translation: If you’re an independent artist whose music may have been scraped to train Suno’s AI, and you create a Suno account, you may be signing away your right to: sue Suno in court, join the independent artist class action, or receive any settlement if that lawsuit wins.
The majority of music on streaming platforms comes from independent artists, not major labels. If Suno trained on publicly available music, indie artists are the ones most affected. And those same artists might unknowingly give up their legal options the moment they click “agree.”
If you believe your music may have been used to train AI models and you want to preserve your legal options, think carefully before creating an account.
Other Clauses Worth Knowing
A few more provisions that matter for artists:
You waive moral rights. The ToS states you “irrevocably waive any and all so-called ‘moral rights’” in your content.
This means you can’t later claim the output misrepresents your artistic vision or harms your reputation.
You indemnify Suno. If your use of the platform causes legal problems, you’re responsible for covering Suno’s legal fees.
If you generate something that sounds too close to an existing song and get sued, that’s entirely on you.
The license on your submissions is perpetual.
Even if you cancel your subscription and delete your account, the license you granted Suno continues indefinitely. They retain the right to use anything you submitted.
The Bottom Line for Self-Label Artists
If you write your own music:
Don’t upload your original work to Suno.
Don’t build your catalog on AI-generated output.
Understand what you’re agreeing to.
Consider your legal options before signing up.
Use AI tools intentionally, not as a crutch.
The self-label path is about ownership. Handing your creative work to a platform that reserves the right to train AI models with it runs counter to everything ownership represents.
Create with intention. Protect what’s yours.
What’s your take? Have you used AI music tools in your process? How do you draw the line between experimentation and protecting your work?
Legal Disclaimer: The information, ideas, and suggestions in this article are not intended as legal advice. Before following any suggestions contained in this article, you should consult your personal attorney.
https://suno.com/terms-of-service
https://www.riaa.com/record-companies-bring-landmark-cases-for-responsible-ai-againstsuno-and-udio-in-boston-and-new-york-federal-courts-respectively/
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/suno-and-udio-hit-with-class-action-lawsuits-from-independent-artists/
“Saved”. Thank you!
The idea of caring about copywriting your songs made with Suno is deeply ironic even if it’s just a part.
Another suggestion would be having some integrity as an artist and not actively interacting with a company based on thievery and exploitation?
People could actually develop skills and seek collaboration instead.
It’s quite amazing to see consumers think they are artists all of a sudden.
Even sadder when they made the transition from being a real creator beforehand.