Sony, Warner Music sue Anthropic over songs used in AI training

Live updates

1. 14d ago

   Sony and Warner Music sue Anthropic over copyrighted song training

   Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell have filed a multi-billion dollar lawsuit against Anthropic for the unauthorized use of tens of thousands of copyrighted songs and lyrics to train the Claude AI model. The publishers allege a "brazen campaign" of copyright infringement and "blatant theft." They are seeking damages of up to $150,000 per song and $25,000 for every instance of removed copyright information. The suit highlights specific works such as "Hallelujah" and "I Am the Walrus" as examples of the stolen material.

   Why it matters

   This legal action follows a prior case that Anthropic settled for $1.5 billion. It reflects a growing conflict between generative AI developers and intellectual property holders over the legality of training models on copyrighted datasets.

   What is confirmed

   • Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell sued Anthropic over the use of copyrighted music to train the Claude AI.
   • The plaintiffs allege Anthropic used tens of thousands of copyrighted songs and lyrics without authorization.
   • The lawsuit seeks damages of up to $150,000 per song.
   • The legal action is described as a multi-billion dollar lawsuit.

   Still unconfirmed

   • Anthropic staff chats cited in the Sony suit include phrases extolling piracy such as "Zlibrary my beloved".
   • The publishers are seeking $25,000 for each instance of removed copyright information.
   • The stolen songs include "I Am the Walrus" and "Hallelujah".
   • Anthropic previously paid $1.5 billion to settle a prior case.

   What to watch next

   • Anthropic's formal legal response to the copyright infringement allegations
   • Court rulings on the requested $150,000 per-song damages
   • Disclosure of the specific training datasets used for Claude
   Sources used for this update (11)

   1. Axios — Music publishers sue Anthropic, allege "blantant theft" of copyrighted music
   2. Music Business Worldwide — Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell sue Anthropic in multi-billion dollar lawsuit
   3. The Guardian — Anthropic sued over alleged theft of ‘tens of thousands’ of songs
   4. Yahoo Finance — Sony accuses Anthropic of 'brazen campaign' to train Claude on its music — and wants up to $150,000 a song
   5. Reuters — Sony, Warner Music sue Anthropic over songs used in AI training
   6. Ars Technica — “Zlibrary my beloved”: Anthropic staff chats extolling piracy cited in Sony suit
   7. Futurism — The Music Industry's New Lawsuit Against Anthropic Should Have Dario Amodei Shivering With Fear
   8. finance.yahoo.com — Sony and Warner Music sue Anthropic over alleged theft of ‘tens of thousands’ of songs, including ‘I Am the Walrus’ and ‘Hallelujah’
   9. www.socialsamosa.com — Sony Music Publishing & Warner Chappell sue Anthropic over alleged copyright infringement
   10. americanbazaaronline.com — Sony, Warner sue Anthropic over alleged use of copyrighted songs to train Claude
   11. www.newsbytesapp.com — Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell Music sue Anthropic
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