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Elvis Presley estate sues Anthropic for $41 million over AI training
The owners of Elvis Presley's music have sued Anthropic, seeking $41 million over claims that it trained its AI models on Presley songs without permission. The plaintiffs, including Authentic Brands Group and Raleigh Music Publishing, also accuse Anthropic of bypassing DRM protections on 247 songs.
Key points
- Presley music owners seek $41 million from Anthropic over alleged unauthorized AI training.
- Complaint alleges DRM was bypassed and copyright information altered on 247 songs.
- Anthropic says it disagrees with the claims and will defend itself, citing fair use.
What happened: The owners of Elvis Presley's music have filed a lawsuit against Anthropic seeking $41 million, Engadget reported, citing The New York Times. The suit claims Anthropic trained its AI models on Presley songs without permission. According to the complaint, the case was filed on October 23. The court was not reported.
The details: The plaintiffs include Authentic Brands Group, Raleigh Music Publishing, multiple trusts and at least one individual. They accuse Anthropic of bypassing digital rights management protections and removing or altering copyright management information from 247 songs, including "Don't Be Cruel", "Can't Help Falling in Love" and "A Little Less Conversation". The complaint says Presley sold over a billion records and that his works "are some of the most valuable in the world." Lead attorney Richard Busch said the plaintiffs are seeking to enforce their exclusive rights against the company.
Background: Anthropic already faces several other music copyright suits. Sony and Warner have sued over what they call a "blatant violation" of copyright law involving thousands of works, and Universal Music and Concord Music Group have accused the company of illegally downloading and training on 20,000 copyrighted songs. Engadget reported that each of these suits claims damages in the billions of dollars.
What to watch: Anthropic has argued that training on copyrighted music is fair use. In a brief statement to the Times, the company said it disagrees with the claims and intends to defend itself. The outcome of these cases could influence how AI companies license training data.
Our take
Teams relying on Claude should track how music copyright cases against Anthropic develop, since rulings on training data could shape vendor terms and indemnities.