The service is a sister company to Sony Music rival Universal.

Sony Music has filed a lawsuit against Radionomy, an online radio service owned by Vivendi, the parent company of Universal Music Group.

As Music Business Worldwide reports, documents filed in a California court last Friday (February 26) show that a group of Sony brands including Arista Records, LaFace Records and Sony Music Entertainment accuse the service of copyright infringement.

Radionomy was launched in 2008 as a platform to let anyone create, promote and monetise their own radio stations online, with Vivendi purchasing a majority 64.4% stake in the company in December 2015.

Sony wants $150,000 in damages for each track whose copyright has been violated, the maximum amount that can be claimed in the US.

Sony’s lawsuit alleges that while licenses for playing music through online radio services are available, Radionomy hasn’t had one since 2014.

“Moreover, it is clear that at least some, and perhaps most, of the stations Defendants provide on their service do not qualify for such a license,” the lawsuit adds.

The lawsuit echoes Sony Music’s move against SoundCloud last year, when the company removed its artists’ catalogue from the streaming service due to “a lack of monetization opportunities” on the platform.