# US Court Rejects AI Fair Use Defense for Training Data

> US appeals court rules AI training on copyrighted material isn't fair use, impacting music labels' battle with Suno AI.
- Title: US Court Rejects AI Fair Use Defense for Training Data
- Summary: US appeals court rules AI training on copyrighted material isn't fair use, impacting music labels' battle with Suno AI. US Third Circuit court rejected fair…
- Keywords: third circuit, fair use, ai training, copyright, suno, universal music group, sony music, riaa, nmpa, thomson reuters, ross intelligence, Court
- Source: Music Business Worldwide — https://musicbusinessworldwide.com/a-us-appeals-court-has-rejected-a-fair-use-defense-over-ai-training-what-does-it-mean-for-the-labels-fight-with-suno
- Published: 2026-10-05T10:01:47+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: us, third circuit, fair use, ai training, copyright, suno, universal music group, sony music, riaa, nmpa, thomson reuters, ross intelligence
## US Court Rejects Fair Use Defense
A US federal appeals court rejected a fair use defense over AI training data in a ruling for Thomson Reuters and against ROSS Intelligence.
## Case Involves Westlaw Headnotes
The case centered on Westlaw headnotes, short editorial summaries of court rulings written by Thomson Reuters attorneys.
## ROSS Shut Platform in 2021
ROSS shut its platform down in 2021 after citing the cost of litigation.
## RIAA and NMPA Back Thomson Reuters
The RIAA and NMPA filed a joint amicus brief supporting Thomson Reuters, noting the case's relevance to music industry AI lawsuits.
## ROSS Argued for Necessity
ROSS claimed copying was an intermediate step toward a non-infringing product, similar to Sega and Google v. Oracle cases.
## Third Circuit Rules Against ROSS
The court found ROSS could have built training memos from public judicial opinions, making copying unnecessary.
## Each Headnote Counts as Copyrightable Work
The court held each Westlaw headnote is a separate copyrightable work, with statutory damages per infringed work.
## Statutory Damages Could Reach $9 Billion
Universal and Sony's second suit against Suno claims 60,202 recordings, potentially costing up to $9 billion in statutory damages.
## ROSS Used Bad Faith Tactics
ROSS tried to access Westlaw using fake credentials and student accounts while concealing its employment.
## Suno's Models Are Generative AI
The Third Circuit noted Suno's models generate original content, unlike ROSS's non-generative platform.
## Suno Case in Different Circuit
Universal and Sony's Suno case is in the First Circuit, so the Third Circuit ruling is persuasive but not binding.
## Munich Court Also Rules Against Suno
A German court previously ruled Suno infringes copyright on six works, using the same legal reasoning as the US court.
## Suno Faces Second Lawsuit
Universal and Sony sued Suno a second time over v6 models, claiming they are the same as previously infringed works.
## Next Steps for Suno
Suno may appeal the Munich ruling and faces potential damages from both US and German courts.
## Key takeaway

US Third Circuit court rejected fair use defense for AI training data, setting precedent for music labels' legal fight with Suno AI platform.