​In a landmark legal confrontation, major music publishers, including Universal Music Group (UMG), ABKCO, and Concord Music Group, have filed a lawsuit against artificial intelligence (AI) startup Anthropic, alleging unauthorized use of copyrighted song lyrics to train its AI chatbot, Claude. The suit, initiated in October 2023 in a Tennessee federal court, claims that Anthropic infringed upon the copyrights of at least 500 songs by artists such as Beyoncé, The Rolling Stones, and The Beach Boys. ​
The publishers accuse Anthropic of systematically incorporating protected lyrics into Claude’s training data without obtaining proper licenses. They argue that this practice not only violates copyright laws but also enables the AI to reproduce substantial portions of lyrics in response to user prompts, potentially impacting the market for authorized lyric reproductions. ​
In response, Anthropic contends that its use of song lyrics constitutes fair use under copyright law, asserting that the AI’s outputs are transformative and do not cause significant market harm. The company also emphasizes that any reproduction of lyrics by Claude is incidental and not a primary function of the AI. ​
In January 2025, both parties reached a partial agreement wherein Anthropic committed to implementing “guardrails” to prevent Claude from generating responses that include copyrighted lyrics. Despite this, the publishers pursued a preliminary injunction to halt any further use of their lyrics by Anthropic. ​
In March 2025, U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee denied the publishers’ request for a preliminary injunction, stating that they failed to demonstrate “irreparable harm” caused by Anthropic’s actions. This decision allows Anthropic to continue its current operations while the broader lawsuit proceeds. ​
Despite this, publishers “remain very confident” about ultimately winning their case against Anthropic.
This case underscores the growing tension between AI developers and content creators over the use of copyrighted material in training data. The outcome could set a significant precedent for how copyright laws are applied to AI technologies and their development processes. As similar lawsuits emerge across creative industries, the legal frameworks governing AI’s use of protected content remain a pivotal issue for both technology companies and rights holders. ​
