Jamendo sues NVIDIA over alleged use of the MTG-Jamendo music dataset to train AI audio models

The complaint

S.A. Jamendo v. NVIDIA Corporation, No. 5:26-cv-11754 (N.D. Cal.), is a 32-page complaint for copyright infringement, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and unfair competition filed October 12, 2026, ECF No. 1, with a jury demand. It also names Does 1 through 50. Jamendo is a Luxembourg company that operates the Jamendo.com music platform, which it says hosts more than 500,000 tracks from over 40,000 independent artists. NVIDIA is a Delaware corporation based in Santa Clara, California.

The dataset and the works

Jamendo alleges it is the author and owner of a copyrighted compilation, the Jamendo Database, reflecting its selection, coordination, and arrangement of tracks and curated metadata, and that around 2019 it created a subset, the MTG-Jamendo Dataset, for an academic research collaboration with a university music technology group in Barcelona. It alleges the dataset, about 55,000 tracks, is distributed through GitHub for non-commercial research under a Creative Commons noncommercial license and a notice requiring Jamendo's written authorization for commercial use. The complaint pleads Registration No. TX-9-606-566 for the MTG-Jamendo Dataset and TXu 2-551-920 for the Jamendo Database, and the Copyright Office public catalog lists both with Jamendo S.A. as claimant. Jamendo also asserts an exclusive license to commercial use of the musical works and sound recordings listed in Exhibit A, which it calls a preliminary and representative sample.

What it alleges

The complaint alleges that NVIDIA's published papers on Fugatto and Audio Flamingo identify MTG-Jamendo as a training source, and that Jamendo learned of the use around March 2024. It alleges, on information and belief, that NVIDIA copied, stored, and processed the database, the dataset, and tracks for which Jamendo holds exclusive commercial rights in its training systems, and it alleges the use was commercial and willful. It alleges Jamendo sought a license from 2024 through June 2025, invoiced NVIDIA and a Belgian NVIDIA affiliate in September 2025, and sued the affiliate in Belgium, where it says the Ghent court rejected the affiliate's jurisdictional objection on June 11, 2026.

Counts and relief

Counts I and II plead copyright infringement, of the compilations and of the Exhibit A works. Count III pleads breach of the Creative Commons license, Count IV breach of Jamendo's terms of use, Count V unjust enrichment, and Count VI unfair competition under Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200. Jamendo seeks declarations; preliminary and permanent injunctive relief; an order to stop using the database, the dataset, and the Exhibit A works in NVIDIA's AI systems and, to the extent required by law, to delete or destroy copies and derived materials; actual damages and profits of no less than EUR 17.8 million or, in the alternative, statutory damages; restitution and disgorgement; contract damages; fees and costs under 17 U.S.C. § 505; and interest.

On the docket

The docket shows the case was assigned on October 13, 2026, and an initial case management scheduling order with ADR deadlines was entered October 14.