Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell have sued Anthropic, alleging that the AI company illegally obtained and used tens of thousands of copyrighted songs, lyrics, and sheet music to train Claude, escalating the legal battle over how AI developers acquire and use protected content.
The legal battle over AI training data has expanded further into the music industry after publishing divisions of Sony Music and Warner Music sued Anthropic, alleging the company used copyrighted songs without authorization to train its Claude AI models. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in California, alleges that Anthropic illegally obtained and reproduced copyrighted musical compositions on a massive scale.
The publishers claim the material includes lyrics and sheet music associated with artists including The Beatles, Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Bon Jovi, Leonard Cohen, and Katy Perry. The case adds another major copyright dispute to the growing list of legal challenges facing AI developers and raises broader questions about whether the technology industry’s approach to acquiring training data can withstand increasing scrutiny from rights holders.
“Defendants Anthropic and its founders Dario Amodei and Benjamin Mann have conducted a brazen campaign of illegally torrenting, scraping, and downloading copyrighted works on a massive scale,” the plaintiffs write in the complaint.
Allegations Cover Tens of Thousands of Songs
Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell allege that Anthropic used unauthorized copies of copyrighted musical works to develop, operate, and profit from its Claude family of AI models. According to the complaint, Anthropic allegedly obtained lyrics and sheet music through torrent downloads, scraping, and other methods. The publishers also claim that the company acquired material from lyrics websites and datasets, including Common Crawl.
The lawsuit alleges that Claude can reproduce copyrighted lyrics verbatim in response to user prompts. It also claims the copyrighted material was used to train the models to generate AI-produced song lyrics that could compete with existing copyrighted works as market substitutes. The publishers characterize the alleged conduct as “one of the largest and most blatant ongoing thefts of intellectual property in history.”
The scope of the case could distinguish it from other copyright disputes involving Anthropic. While some previous lawsuits have focused on hundreds of works, the new complaint alleges infringement involving “tens of thousands” of musical compositions.
The complaint also names Dario Amodei, CEO, Anthropic, and Benjamin Mann, Co-Founder, Anthropic, as defendants.
A New Front in AI’s Copyright Disputes
The lawsuit arrives as AI companies face legal challenges from authors, publishers, music companies, and news organizations over the material used to train generative models. Anthropic has already faced similar litigation involving copyrighted content. Universal Music Group sued the company in 2023 over the alleged use of copyrighted song lyrics, and that case remains ongoing.
The company also resolved a separate class action involving authors last year through a US$1.5 billion settlement. The publishers referenced that agreement in their complaint, arguing that the settlement did not prevent further alleged infringement.
“Anthropic clearly considers that to be just the cost of doing business given that its entire business model continues to be built on copyright theft,” Sony and Warner say in the complaint. “And US$1.5 billion is obviously not a large enough settlement to deter infringing conduct.”
The publishers’ claims also reflect the particular complexity of music copyright. A single commercially released song can involve separate rights related to its composition, lyrics, and sound recording, potentially exposing AI companies to claims from multiple copyright holders.
That structure could make disputes involving music particularly consequential for AI developers attempting to establish legal frameworks for training models on copyrighted material.
Damages Could Reach Billions
Sony and Warner are seeking damages of up to US$150,000 for each infringed copyright, as well as a court order preventing Anthropic from using their copyrighted works. The publishers also seek damages related to the alleged removal or alteration of identifying information associated with copyrighted material. Based on the number of works referenced in the complaint, the potential financial exposure could reach billions of dollars.
The lawsuit alleges that Anthropic and its founders chose to obtain unauthorized copies rather than pay licensing fees for the use of copyrighted material in AI training and development.
“We disagree with the publishers’ claims and we intend to defend ourselves robustly in court,” Anthropic says in a statement.