Nvidia's venture arm fights UMG and Sony subpoena in Suno case as DistroKid AI data talks near a deal

Nvidia's venture arm has asked a federal court in California to cancel a deposition subpoena from Universal Music Group and Sony Music, the latest of at least five fights over who must hand over evidence in the labels' copyright case against AI music generator Suno. The motion, filed on November 10, describes NVentures as a "passive minority investor" in Suno.

A day earlier in the same case, UMG, Sony and DistroKid told a New York court they are "working on a resolution" to a separate dispute: the labels want DistroKid's data on AI-generated uploads. Taken together, the filings show the labels building their case against Suno by reaching into the companies around it.

What Nvidia says it has already given

NVentures took part in Suno's $250 million Series C in November 2025, a round led by Menlo Ventures that valued the company at $2.45 billion. Suno reported about $200 million in annual revenue at the time. In its motion NVentures says it has produced 6,324 documents running to 28,194 pages, and that UMG and Sony have not explained what they still cannot get from that production or from Suno itself. It also says the Suno round was its only investment in the company.

The labels' responses are due on November 24. No ruling on the motion has been reported.

The DistroKid data fight

The DistroKid dispute is about numbers. On October 14, UMG and Sony asked a federal court in Manhattan to enforce a subpoena against the distributor. They want records on tracks DistroKid has flagged as AI-generated, including the total streams and royalties those recordings earned. The labels argue the data is "highly relevant information that only DistroKid possesses", and that it shows how much AI music reaches streaming services and competes with human-made records.

DistroKid answered the subpoena in writing. The joint filing this week does not say what a resolution would contain.

UMG has also sued DistroKid directly. That complaint, filed in Delaware federal court on September 15, says UMG has identified nearly 2,000 infringing recordings distributed through the service. DistroKid disputes the allegations and has until December 4 to respond. We reported on Create Music Group's stake in DistroKid on October 30; that deal is unrelated to this litigation.

Apple, venture funds and the rest of the subpoena list

The labels are pressing on several other fronts. They have filed motions to compel against Suno investors Bond Capital, Lightspeed and Menlo Ventures, and against former Menlo principal C.C. Gong. Apple is separately trying to quash a deposition demand from the labels' side about Apple Music's royalties for AI-generated tracks, and a hearing on that motion is set for December 1.

Each of these third parties holds a different piece of the picture. Investors hold pitch decks and projections. Distributors hold upload and stream counts. A streaming service holds payout data. The labels need all three to argue what Suno's output is worth and what it takes from licensed catalogue.

Where the main case stands

Suno was sued in 2024 by the major labels. Warner Music Group settled in November 2025 and signed a licensing deal with Suno, with financial terms undisclosed. UMG and Sony kept going. In August they were cleared to add a claim that Suno obtained recordings by stream-ripping them from YouTube, and on September 18 they filed a second suit covering 60,202 recordings, with theoretical damages above $9 billion on the statutory-damages arithmetic.

Settlement talks between Suno and the two remaining majors have been described by trade reporting as stalled. Some of the figures in secondary coverage conflict, including reports of a 2026 funding round that Lockgroove could not confirm from a primary source, so the Series C is the only Suno valuation used here.

Dates to watch

November 24: UMG and Sony respond to NVentures. December 1: hearing on Apple's motion to quash. December 4: DistroKid's deadline to answer UMG's Delaware complaint. Any one of these could narrow or widen the discovery the labels get before the main case goes further.