Jamendo sues Nvidia for unauthorized use of 55,000 music tracks in AI training
In brief
- Jamendo alleges Nvidia used 55,000 MTG-Jamendo dataset tracks to train commercial AI audio models without permission
- Creative Commons non-commercial license restricted use; Nvidia allegedly trained Fugatto and Audio Flamingo models
- Jamendo discovered infringement in 2024 when Nvidia publicly acknowledged the dataset as training source
- Lawsuit seeks minimum $20.3 million damages with four claims including copyright infringement and breach of contract
The Alleged Infringement
Jamendo is seeking a minimum of $20.3 million in damages from Nvidia over the unauthorized use of music in its AI systems. According to the complaint, Jamendo became aware of the alleged infringement in 2024 when Nvidia publicly acknowledged the MTG-Jamendo dataset as a training source for its models.
The MTG-Jamendo dataset consists of approximately 55,000 full audio tracks developed through collaboration between Jamendo and the Music Technology Group at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Spain. That dataset was released under a Creative Commons license, but specifically for non-commercial research use. Jamendo alleges Nvidia used the tracks to train two commercial AI products: Fugatto, a generative audio model, and Audio Flamingo, an audio-language model.
Legal Claims and Damages
The lawsuit brings four distinct claims: direct copyright infringement, breach of contract related to the Creative Commons non-commercial license, unjust enrichment, and unfair competition. Statutory damages in the case could reach up to $150,000 per infringed work.
This is Nvidia's eighth copyright lawsuit tied to how it sources training data for AI systems. The case underscores a broader tension in the AI industry: the boundary between legitimate data use and unauthorized commercial application of protected content. As generative AI companies scale their training datasets, copyright holders and creators are increasingly pushing back on practices that exploit their work without compensation or consent.
