The owners of Elvis Presley's music have sued Anthropic for $41 million, alleging the AI company trained its models on 274 Elvis songs without permission. The lawsuit, filed on October 23rd, claims Anthropic bypassed DRM protections and removed copyright information from 247 songs, including hits like Don't Be Cruel and Can't Help Falling in Love. Stakeholders include Authentic Brands Group, Raleigh Music Publishing, and multiple trusts.
Lead attorney Richard Busch stated the action enforces exclusive rights against an AI business model built on copyright infringement at an unprecedented scale. The complaint notes Elvis sold over a billion records, calling his works some of the most valuable in the world. This case centers on a single musician who died decades before AI existed, though efforts to recreate him as a robot continue.
Like OpenAI and other AI firms, Anthropic faces multiple copyright lawsuits. Sony and Warner recently sued for "blatant violation" involving thousands of works, while Universal Music and Concord Music Group previously claimed illegal training on 20,000 songs, each claiming billions in damages. Anthropic claims training on copyrighted music is "fair use" and intends to defend itself against the claims.
Source: Engadget · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing