Anthropic Settles with Music Publishers in AI Copyright Dispute
Anthropic, the company behind the AI program Claude, has reached a settlement with major music publishers over allegations of copyright infringement.
Universal Music Group, Concord Music Group, and ABKCO accused Anthropic of using copyrighted music to train its AI without proper authorization. The lawsuit claimed that over 500 songs by prominent artists, including Katy Perry and Beyoncé, were involved, with publishers seeking $150,000 for each infringement.
One key example cited was Claude’s ability to provide nearly identical lyrics to Katy Perry’s Roar upon request, which supports the claims that the AI has been able to access copyrighted music
In response, Anthropic has agreed to settle and implement stricter safeguards to prevent future infringements. The company emphasized that Claude was not intended to violate copyright laws and pledged to apply already implemented “guardrails” to avoid further issues. Additionally, music publishers will be able to notify Anthropic if the guardrails fail to work effectively.
Despite the settlement, this case could have broader implications. A pending court ruling may bar Anthropic from training future iterations of Claude on lyrics owned by these publishers. As the AI industry grows, this case underscores the complex challenges surrounding intellectual property rights in the age of machine learning.