Music publishers challenge Anthropic over song lyrics used to train Claude AI chatbot

US music publishers suing Anthropic make their case against AI 'fair use'

This video file cannot be played.(Error Code: 102630) March 24 (Reuters) - Music publishers Universal Music Group (UMG.AS), opens new tab, Concord and ABKCO have asked a judge in California to rule that U.S. copyright law does not insulate artificial intelligence startup Anthropic from liability for copying their song lyrics to train its AI-powered chatbot Claude. The publishers' request, opens new tab, filed on Monday in federal court in San Jose, tees up a critical question in the legal battle between creators and tech companies: Does the doctrine of "fair use" apply to the copying of millions of copyrighted works to train AI models? The publishers argued in Monday's filing that Claude's AI-generated lyrics are not fair use because they are derivatives of the publishers' lyrics that "compete with and dilute the market" for them. The publishers also said that Claude unlawfully reproduces their lyrics ⁠on demand without permission. Spokespeople for Anthropic and the music companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the motion on Tuesday. The lawsuit is one of dozens of disputes between copyright owners such as authors and news outlets and tech giants including OpenAI, Microsoft and Meta Platforms over the training of their AI systems. Amazon and Google-backed Anthropic was the first major AI company to settle one of the cases, agreeing last year to pay a group of authors $1.5 billion to resolve a class-action lawsuit. The music publishers sued Anthropic in 2023, alleging that it infringed their copyrights in lyrics from at least 500 songs by musicians including Beyonce, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys. All of the pending cases will likely ⁠revolve around whether AI systems make fair use of copyrighted material by using it to create new, transformative content. The publishers asked U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee on Monday to rule before trial that Anthropic infringed their copyrights and reject Anthropic's fair use defense. Anthropic has denied the allegations, but has not yet argued for fair use in the music publishers' case. U.S. District Judge William ⁠Alsup in San Francisco said in a separate case last year that Anthropic's use of books for AI training was "quintessentially transformative," siding with the company on the issue. Alsup and another judge in Lee's Northern California court issued diverging rulings on fair use in AI training. The ⁠publishers said on Monday that unlike the authors in those cases, their record of Claude reproducing their work on demand is "overwhelming." The case is Concord Music Group Inc v. Anthropic PBC, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, ⁠No. 5:24-cv-03811. For the music publishers: Matt Oppenheim of Oppenheim + Zebrak For Anthropic: Sonal Mehta of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr Music publishers sue AI company Anthropic over song lyrics Music publishers fend off Anthropic's bid to dismiss some AI copyright claims AI copyright battles enter pivotal year as US courts weigh fair use Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Legal Industry * Corporate Counsel * Intellectual Property Blake Brittain Thomson Reuters Blake Brittain reports on intellectual property law, including patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets, for Reuters Legal. He has previously written for Bloomberg Law and Thomson Reuters Practical Law and practiced as an attorney.

BMG sues Anthropic for using Bruno Mars, Rolling Stones lyrics in AI training

March 18 (Reuters) - Music company BMG Rights Management has sued artificial intelligence company Anthropic in California federal court for allegedly using its copyrighted lyrics to train the large language models powering its Claude chatbot. BMG said in the complaint, opens new tab filed on Tuesday that Anthropic copied and reproduced lyrics from hit songs by the Rolling Stones, Bruno Mars, Ariana Grande and other prominent rock and pop musicians, infringing hundreds ⁠of copyrights. The lawsuit is the latest among dozens of high-stakes cases brought by authors, news outlets, and other copyright owners against tech companies for using their work in training the models behind their chatbots. BMG rival Universal Music Group and other music publishers filed a related lawsuit against Anthropic in 2023, which is ongoing. Anthropic settled another AI training lawsuit brought by a group of authors for $1.5 billion last year. Spokespeople for Anthropic did ⁠not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. "Anthropic's practice of training AI models on copyrighted works sourced from unauthorized torrent sites, among other acts, stands in direct opposition to the standards required of any responsible ⁠participant in the AI community," BMG said in a statement. AI companies have argued that they make fair use of copyrighted material by transforming it into ⁠something new. BMG, owned by German media group Bertelsmann (BTGGg.F), opens new tab, cited 493 examples of copyrights that Anthropic allegedly infringed. Statutory damages for copyright infringement ⁠under U.S. law can range from hundreds of dollars up to $150,000 per work if the court finds the infringement was willful. Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; editing by David Gaffen, Rod Nickel Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Litigation * Intellectual Property Blake Brittain Thomson Reuters Blake Brittain reports on intellectual property law, including patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets, for Reuters Legal. He has previously written for Bloomberg Law and Thomson Reuters Practical Law and practiced as an attorney.

US music publishers suing Anthropic make their case against AI 'fair use' - The Economic Times

Music publishers Universal Music Group, Concord and ABKCO have asked a judge in California to rule that US copyright law does not insulate artificial intelligence startup Anthropic from liability for copying their song lyrics to train its AI-powered chatbot Claude. The publishers' request, filed on Monday in federal court in San Jose, tees up a critical question in the legal battle between creators and tech companies: Does the doctrine of "fair use" apply to the copying of millions of copyrighted works ⁠to ⁠train AI models? The publishers argued in Monday's filing that Claude's AI-generated lyrics are not fair use because they are derivatives of the publishers' lyrics that "compete with and dilute the market" for them. The publishers also said that Claude unlawfully reproduces their lyrics on demand without permission. Spokespeople for Anthropic and the music companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the motion on Tuesday. The lawsuit is one of dozens of disputes between copyright owners such as authors and news outlets and tech giants including OpenAI, Microsoft and Meta Platforms ⁠over the training of their AI systems. Amazon and Google-backed Anthropic was the first major AI company to settle one of the cases, agreeing last year to pay a group of authors $1.5 ⁠billion to resolve a class-action lawsuit. The music publishers sued Anthropic in 2023, alleging that it infringed their copyrights in lyrics from at least 500 songs by musicians including Beyonce, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys. All of the pending cases will likely revolve around whether AI systems make fair use of copyrighted material by using it to create new, transformative content. The publishers asked U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee on Monday to rule before trial that Anthropic infringed their copyrights and reject Anthropic's fair use defense. Anthropic has denied the allegations, but has not yet argued for fair use in the music publishers' case. US District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco said in a separate case last year that Anthropic's use of books for AI training was "quintessentially transformative," siding with ⁠the company on the issue. Alsup and another judge in Lee's Northern California court issued diverging rulings on fair use in AI training. The publishers said on Monday that unlike the authors in those cases, their record of Claude reproducing their work on demand is "overwhelming."

BMG Sues Anthropic for Alleged Training of Chatbot With Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars, Rolling Stones Lyrics

Kim Kardashian Denies Involvement in Sex Tape Release. Ray J's Lawyer Calls it 'Perjury' Music rights management company BMG has sued Anthropic, accusing the artificial intelligence firm of running "roughshod over the rights" of songwriters, from Grammy-winning stars to emerging artists. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in California, BMG claims Anthropic used lyrics from artists including Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars, Ariana Grande, and the Rolling Stones to train its Claude chatbot without authorization. The company claims the infringement dates to Anthropic's founding, when it allegedly used automated scraping tools to copy text from public websites and illegal online pirate libraries. "Anthropic's illegal conduct does not stop with these multiple direct infringements," the complaint, obtained by Rolling Stone, claims. "Anthropic also facilitates, encourages, and profits from copyright infringement by its licensees and users of its Claude models." The suit alleges Anthropic is secondarily liable for contributory and vicarious infringement tied to those uses. Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company was founded in 2021 by former staffers of OpenAI, the research lab behind ChatGPT. The new lawsuit is the latest in a wave of claims against artificial intelligence companies. In the 47-page complaint, BMG argues that Anthropic clearly trained its models on BMG-managed music because Claude has readily supplied users with all or significant portions of the chart-topping songs "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars, "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by the Rolling Stones," and Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World." "BMG has never authorized Anthropic to use its copyrighted compositions in connection with Claude," the lawsuit states. It adds that Anthropic did not respond to a cease-and-desist letter sent in December 2025 or engage in licensing discussions. BMG contends Anthropic's rapid growth does not excuse the alleged violations. "Generations of inventors have brought revolutionary new products to market while complying with copyright law," the complaint states. "Anthropic's rapid development of its new technology is no excuse for its egregious law-breaking." BMG is seeking damages of up to $150,000 per allegedly infringed work, along with a court order requiring Anthropic to disclose details about its training data, methods, and model capabilities, including identifying any BMG-controlled material used. The lawsuit also accuses Anthropic of continuing the alleged infringement despite mounting legal challenges. "Anthropic could cease its infringing conduct at any time," the complaint states. "Yet, despite repeated lawsuits from creators and owners of a variety of copyrighted works and a specific written request from BMG to stop the wrongdoing at issue in this lawsuit, Anthropic has refused to do so, making a mockery of its stated founding principles of building a better and 'broadly ethical' AI model."

Anthropic Sued By Music Rights Firm Over Alleged Lyrics Misuse

Anthropic, the AI company behind the Claude chatbot, is facing a lawsuit from music rights management company BMG. According to a Rolling Stone report, BMG alleges that Anthropic used lyrics from major artists to train its chatbot without obtaining proper authorization. Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars, and Ariana Grande are among the artists mentioned in the report. "Generations of inventors have brought revolutionary new products to market while complying with copyright law. Anthropic's rapid development of its new technology is no excuse for its egregious law-breaking," the lawsuit stated. BMG claims that Anthropic evidently used music under BMG's management to train its models. Claude, it alleges, provided users with substantial excerpts -- or even complete sections -- of hit songs including Mars' "Uptown Funk," the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want," and Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World." "Anthropic's illegal conduct does not stop with these multiple direct infringements," the complaint, obtained by Rolling Stone, claims. "Anthropic also facilitates, encourages, and profits from copyright infringement by its licensees and users of its Claude models." The lawsuit noted that Anthropic has not responded to BMG's December cease-and-desist letter and has not engaged in any licensing discussions. This is not the first lawsuit Anthropic has been hit with regarding music rights infringement. Universal Music Group sued the AI startup in California federal court in January. Concord and ABKCO are also plaintiffs. The music rights companies are suing over the infringement of more than 20,000 songs and seeking statutory damages exceeding $3 billion. In 2024, three authors also sued Anthropic, accusing the company of using pirated books to train Claude. The settlement was approved in September 2025 for $1.5 billion and covers approximately 500,000 works. Anthropic paid approximately $3,000 for each book. BMG is pursuing as much as $150,000 in damages for each work it says was infringed and is asking the court to compel Anthropic to reveal information about its training data, processes, and model capabilities -- including any material under BMG's control that may have been used. Photo: Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

BMG sues Anthropic for using Bruno Mars, Rolling Stones lyrics in AI training

Music company BMG Rights Management has sued AI startup Anthropic. The lawsuit claims Anthropic used copyrighted song lyrics to train its AI chatbots. This is one of many lawsuits against tech companies for using creative works. Anthropic previously settled a similar case with authors. The music industry is taking legal action over AI training data. Music company BMG Rights Management has sued artificial intelligence startup Anthropic in California federal court for allegedly using its copyrighted lyrics to train the large language models powering its Claude chatbot. BMG said in the complaint filed ⁠on ⁠Tuesday that Anthropic copied and reproduced lyrics from hit songs by the Rolling Stones, Bruno Mars, Ariana Grande and other prominent rock and pop musicians, infringing hundreds of copyrights. The lawsuit is the latest among dozens of high-stakes cases brought by authors, news ⁠outlets, and other copyright owners against tech companies for using their work in training large language models ⁠behind their chatbots. BMG rival Universal Music Group and other music publishers filed a related lawsuit against Anthropic in 2023, which is still ongoing. Anthropic settled another AI training lawsuit brought by a group of authors for $1.5 billion last year. Spokespeople for the companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. AI companies have argued that they make fair use of copyrighted material ⁠by transforming it into something new. BMG, owned by German media group Bertelsmann, cited 493 examples of copyrights that Anthropic allegedly infringed. Statutory damages for copyright infringement under U.S. law can range from hundreds of dollars up to $150,000 per work if the court finds the infringement was willful.

Music Publisher BMG Files Copyright Case Against Anthropic

Music publisher BMG has sued Anthropic in a US federal court, alleging widespread copyright infringement of its music library tied to the training and outputs of its Claude models. The complaint claims Anthropic copied and used song lyrics without permission. It further seeks injunctive relief and statutory damages, including up to $150,000 per infringed work, alongside remedies under US copyright law. What are the allegations? BMG alleges a multi-stage pattern of infringement tied to the development and deployment of Anthropic's Claude models: Anthropic's $1.5 billion settlement Anthropic is among several AI companies facing copyright lawsuits over training practices, alongside firms such as Meta, OpenAI, and Google. In one major case, authors including Andrea Bartz sued the company in 2024, alleging it used pirated books from datasets like Books3 and LibGen. The dispute later became a class action and led to a proposed $1.5 billion settlement after a US court ruled that training on copyrighted books could qualify as fair use, but allowed separate claims over the use of pirated datasets to proceed. India's proposed copyright model for AI training The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) committee has proposed a hybrid licensing model for AI training built around a "One Nation, One License, One Payment" framework. Under this system, developers can use any lawfully accessed copyrighted content without negotiating individual licences. In return, they must pay statutory royalties through a central body, which distributes payments to registered creators. While creators cannot opt out, the model aims to ensure compensation, reduce licensing friction, and standardise access to training data.

BMG sues Anthropic for using Bruno Mars, Rolling Stones lyrics in AI training

March 18 (Reuters) - Music company BMG Rights Management has sued artificial intelligence startup Anthropic in California federal court for allegedly using its copyrighted lyrics to train the large language models powering its Claude chatbot. BMG said in the complaint filed on Tuesday that Anthropic copied and reproduced lyrics from hit songs by the Rolling Stones, Bruno Mars, Ariana Grande and other prominent rock and pop musicians, infringing hundreds of copyrights. The lawsuit is the latest among dozens of high-stakes cases brought by authors, news outlets, and other copyright owners against tech companies for using their work in training large language models behind their chatbots. BMG rival Universal Music Group and other music publishers filed a related lawsuit against Anthropic in 2023, which is still ongoing. Anthropic settled another AI training lawsuit brought by a group of authors for $1.5 billion last year. Spokespeople for the companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. AI companies have argued that they make fair use of copyrighted material by transforming it into something new. BMG, owned by German media group Bertelsmann, cited 493 examples of copyrights that Anthropic allegedly infringed. Statutory damages for copyright infringement under U.S. law can range from hundreds of dollars up to $150,000 per work if the court finds the infringement was willful. (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; editing by David Gaffen)