Sony Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Sue Anthropic Over Alleged Copyright Infringement

Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell Music, along with other music publishers, have filed a lawsuit against artificial intelligence company Anthropic, accusing it of using thousands of copyrighted musical works without permission to train and operate its Claude AI models.

The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California and names Anthropic as well as co-founders Dario Amodei and Benjamin Mann as defendants. The publishers allege that the company engaged in large-scale downloading, scraping and use of copyrighted music and other protected material in the development of its AI systems.

According to the complaint, Anthropic allegedly obtained copyrighted works through unauthorised sources and used them as part of the data used to train Claude. The publishers argue that the alleged conduct amounts to widespread copyright infringement and have described the case as a major threat to the rights of songwriters and music creators.

The complaint reportedly covers tens of thousands of musical compositions. The publishers are seeking statutory damages of up to $150,000 for each work allegedly infringed. They have also sought damages of up to $25,000 for each instance in which copyright management information was allegedly removed, potentially taking the total financial exposure into the billions of dollars.

The publishers have further alleged that Claude has been capable of reproducing lyrics or material that is identical or substantially similar to copyrighted works. Songs referenced in reporting around the lawsuit include works associated with artists such as Marvin Gaye, Bon Jovi, Earth, Wind & Fire, Leonard Cohen and Taylor Swift.

Anthropic, however, has rejected the allegations. A company spokesperson said the firm disagrees with the publishers' claims and intends to defend itself vigorously in court.

The lawsuit adds to the growing legal battle between the music industry and AI companies over the use of copyrighted material in training datasets. Music publishers and rights holders have increasingly argued that AI developers should obtain permission and compensate creators when their works are used to develop commercial AI systems.

For the music industry, the case could become another significant test of how copyright law applies to artificial intelligence, particularly around the use of protected songs and lyrics in the training of generative AI models.

The legal action also comes amid a wider wave of copyright disputes involving AI companies, highlighting the growing tension between rapid AI development and the rights of creators whose work may form part of the datasets used to build these systems.