Major music publishers, including Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell, have filed a lawsuit against Anthropic and its co-founders, Dario Amodei and Benjamin Mann, alleging a “brazen campaign of illegally torrenting, scraping, and downloading copyrighted works” to train the AI model Claude. The complaint, submitted late Friday to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses Anthropic of “blatant theft” and “flagrant piracy” for using thousands of copyrighted works without permission.

Key Takeaways

• Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell, along with many other music publishers, are suing Anthropic and its co-founders over alleged copyright infringement.
• The lawsuit claims Anthropic engaged in “illegal torrenting” and scraping to obtain millions of copies of books, including those containing lyrics and sheet music.
• The legal complaint was filed late Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
• This is not the first intellectual property case against Anthropic; previous cases include the Bartz v. Anthropic lawsuit, which resulted in a $1.5 billion judgment.
• The new lawsuit is broader than previous cases and builds on them, alleging “flagrant piracy” in the training of Claude.

Music Publishers Accuse Anthropic of “Blatant Theft” and “Flagrant Piracy”

The lawsuit, first reported by Music Business Worldwide, alleges that Anthropic conducted a “brazen campaign of illegally torrenting, scraping, and downloading copyrighted works.” The publishers accuse Anthropic of “blatant theft” by utilizing thousands of copyrighted works to train its AI model Claude. The complaint specifically alleges “flagrant piracy” through illegal torrenting to obtain millions of copies of books, including those containing lyrics and sheet music.

This legal action is not the first intellectual property case brought against Anthropic. Some of the lawyers involved in the current lawsuit also represent Concord Music Group and Universal Music Group in a case filed in January. The same lawyers also led the Bartz v. Anthropic case, where authors accused Anthropic of using copyrighted works to train products like Claude. In the Bartz case, Anthropic was ordered to pay $1.5 billion after a judge ruled that while using copyrighted works was legal, obtaining them through piracy was not.

Legal Context and Precedents

The latest lawsuit is broader than previous cases and builds on them. It adds new allegations of illegal torrenting to the existing claims of scraping and downloading copyrighted works. The case against Anthropic is part of a growing wave of litigation against AI companies over the use of copyrighted material in training data.

Why It Matters

This lawsuit underscores the escalating legal risks for AI companies that use copyrighted materials without explicit permission. The $1.5 billion judgment in the Bartz case sets a significant precedent, and this new, broader lawsuit could have major implications for how AI models are trained. The music publishing industry is taking a strong stance to protect its intellectual property, and the outcome of this case could shape future practices in AI development.

What Happens Next

The case is now before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Anthropic has not yet filed a response, and the court will determine the next steps. The music publishers are seeking legal remedies for the alleged infringement, and the industry will be watching closely as the case progresses.