Labels ask court to make Suno backer Lightspeed testify on training-data risk

Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment want a Lightspeed Venture Partners representative to testify, and one topic is the “legal risk of training data,” as discussed in a document Lightspeed has already produced in the case. The labels made their case in a Boston federal court filing on October 13, opposing Lightspeed’s motion to quash their subpoena, Music Business Worldwide reported.

A narrowed version of the subpoena also seeks testimony on the “Risks” listed in that document, specifically “regulation around training data and/or label lawsuits.” The document also discusses a “two sided music platform.”

Lightspeed produced 152 documents in October 2025, in response to an earlier subpoena. That batch stopped at June 6, 2025, so it included nothing from Suno’s later funding rounds. The new subpoena, served August 24, asks for documents from June 7, 2025 onward, plus a deposition of a corporate designee. Lightspeed refused to provide any documents or testimony and filed its motion to quash in the Northern District of California on September 16. On October 2 the motion was transferred to the District of Massachusetts, where Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV oversees the labels’ original 2024 lawsuit against Suno.

Lightspeed led Suno’s $125 million Series B in May 2024 and holds a seat on the company’s board, according to the labels’ brief. The brief says that after the labels sued, Lightspeed “doubled and tripled down,” investing again in the Series C (November 2025) and Series D (June 2026). The Series D raised over $400 million at a $5.4 billion valuation.

The labels say Lightspeed’s files bear on Suno’s fair use defense and on whether any infringement was willful. “A company raising capital tells its investors, candidly and in detail, what market it is targeting, whose share it intends to take, how fast it is growing, and what risks, including legal risks, it faces,” they argue. They add that investor productions “have already yielded evidence of Suno’s knowledge and market strategy that Suno itself never produced.”

The labels call Lightspeed’s motion “an attempt to relitigate issues that Judge Levenson has already considered.” Magistrate Judge Paul G. Levenson heard a Suno request for a protective order covering subpoenas to four of its investors, Lightspeed included, on August 26. According to a transcript excerpt the labels filed, he said: “I don’t get why investors in Suno would be irrelevant to a consideration of what is Suno’s anticipated or ongoing behavior in the marketplace.” He also recalled that talk of whether Suno’s data would be “essentially mined or farmed from YouTube” had come up with an investor, which the labels’ counsel confirmed. That, Levenson said, “strikes me as the kind of thing that is more likely found when you ask people what did they say when they showed you the pitch deck.” Suno admitted in a September 1 filing that it obtained audio from YouTube for training data, using a tool called YT-DLP. The labels say Levenson did not grant the protective order.

Lightspeed argues the subpoena is untimely, cumulative of its earlier production and burdensome. It is represented by Latham & Watkins, the same firm that represents Suno. The labels answer that Lightspeed “is a repeat investor in the defendant, holds a seat on its Board, shares the defendant’s counsel, and stands to benefit directly if Suno’s fair use defense prevails.”

They also cite a September 2025 ruling in their case against Udio, where Magistrate Judge Kandis A. Westmore ordered Udio investor Andreessen Horowitz to comply with a similar subpoena. “In short, this is not a case where a16z was a mere passive investor, whose only role was deciding whether or not to invest in Udio,” Westmore wrote.

Separately, Universal and Sony filed a second lawsuit against Suno on September 18, covering 60,202 recordings. Warner Music Group, originally a co-plaintiff in the first case, settled with Suno in November 2025 and signed a licensing deal.

The labels want the court to deny Lightspeed’s motion, order documents produced within seven days, and have Lightspeed sit for a deposition within 14 days after that. Their narrowed subpoena cuts the deposition topics from 20 to 16. They include Lightspeed’s role on Suno’s board, Suno’s “Partnerships Tracker,” and any pre-investment business relationships with co-founders Michael Shulman, Keenan Freyberg, Georg Kucsko and Martin Camacho.

Lightspeed can file a reply by October 20, under a briefing schedule the parties have jointly asked the court to approve.