Major Music Publishers File Lawsuit Against AI Company Anthropic

Several major music publishers, including Concord, Universal, and ABKCO, have filed a lawsuit against AI company Anthropic. The publishers allege that Anthropic has unlawfully used copyrighted content to train its popular large language model (LLM) chatbot, Claude.

The complaint, filed in the Middle District of Tennessee Nashville Division, accuses Anthropic of wholesale copying of song lyrics to fuel its AI models. Tennessee, known as America’s “Music City,” is a favorable ground for artists and labels leveling lawsuits due to its history in the music industry.

This lawsuit comes after Amazon’s $4 billion investment into Anthropic’s LLM development company. It poses a challenge for both companies as they look to commercialize their joint software and AI offerings.

The lawsuit claims that Anthropic directly infringes on the publishers’ exclusive rights as copyright holders. The publishers also accuse Anthropic of enabling massive copyright infringement by users of its technology.

The complaint provides examples of Claude providing word-for-word copies of lyrics to popular songs when prompted. The publishers argue that Anthropic could implement filters to block copyrighted content but chooses to unlawfully exploit their catalogs.

This lawsuit raises questions about the balance between intellectual property rights and AI innovation. It tests whether AI complies with copyright laws and fair use exceptions. Similar concerns have been raised in lawsuits against other AI companies, including OpenAI and Meta.

Legal experts believe that the question of whether AI training constitutes fair use may end up before the Supreme Court. The debate centers on whether mining copyrighted data for AI training enables transformative new technologies or devastates existing and future markets.

In the meantime, AI vendors are offering customers indemnification against copyright claims to provide legal cover. Oversight bodies, such as Congress and the FTC, have held hearings on regulating AI practices. This legal battle between music publishers and Anthropic may have significant implications for AI development across industries.

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