Anthropic sued for allegedly using 274 Elvis Presley songs to train AI models
The owners of Elvis Presley's music catalogue have filed a lawsuit against AI company Anthropic, alleging unauthorized use of 274 Presley songs to train their models without permission.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday and first reported by Billboard, accuses Anthropic of infringing on the rights of 274 songs by Elvis Presley. While AI firms have previously faced copyright claims from music labels and industry associations, this case stands out as one of the first major legal challenges brought directly by an artist's estate against an AI developer.
Legal Claims
The lawsuit alleges that from its inception, Anthropic's AI model, 'Claude,' has created infringing output of copyrighted material of virtually every song from every catalog available on the internet. The company is accused of using specific Presley tracks including 'Can't Help Falling in Love,' 'All Shook Up,' and 'A Little Less Conversation' to train its AI model.
The Elvis plaintiffs bring this action to enforce these exclusive rights against the defendant that has built its entire business model based on copyright infringement at a scale never seen before.
Financial Impact
The plaintiffs are seeking $150,000 per infringed track, which would amount to approximately $41 million. The lawsuit also criticizes Anthropic's guardrails as ineffective in preventing copyright infringement, claiming the company knowingly engaged and continues to willfully engage in copyright infringement. This case could set a broader precedent for how AI companies are allowed to use existing music catalogues.
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