Major music publishersSony Music PublishingandWarner Chappell Musichave filed a majorcopyright infringement lawsuitagainstAnthropic, the developer behind theartificial intelligenceassistantClaude. The legal action, filed in aCalifornia federal court, also explicitly names Anthropic Chief Executive OfficerDario Amodeiand co-founderBenjamin Mann.
According to the complaint, Anthropic unlawfully used approximately20,000 copyrighted songswithout prior licensing or authorization to train itslarge language models. The disputed catalog spans prominent works from globally renowned artists, includingThe Beatles,Taylor Swift, andMichael Jackson. The publishers allege that the AI system not only reproduces protectedlyrics and musical scoreswhen prompted by users, but also generates derivative compositions that directly compete in the commercial market against human songwriters.
Under United States copyright statutes, the plaintiffs are seeking maximumstatutory damagesof up to$150,000 per willful infringement, which could escalate total liabilities into billions of dollars. In addition to monetary relief, the music publishers are requesting a formalcourt injunctionto prohibit Anthropic from maintaining or using unlicensed music catalogs in its datasets.
This lawsuit follows a series of significant legal challenges for the AI developer. Anthropic previously agreed to a$1.5 billion settlementto resolve a class-action lawsuit brought by book authors, covering roughly 500,000 literary titles at approximately $3,000 per work. While a federal judge previously deemed aspects of AI model training on copyrighted literature astransformative fair use, the court simultaneously established that tech firms lack the legal right to maintain repositories of pirated content. Music publishers are now utilizing that critical distinction to argue that Anthropic unlawfully acquired and archived copyrighted musical compositions.
The litigation marks an ongoing escalation between the generative AI sector and the entertainment industry. Anthropic was previously sued in 2023 byUniversal Music Groupand allied publishers over similar allegations regarding unlicensed training materials and output generation.
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