Major Music Publishers Sue Anthropic Over Copyright Infringement
PUBLISHED Aug 31, 2026, 10:35 AM ET
Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell Music, along with 33 other music publishers, filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against artificial intelligence company Anthropic on August 28, 2026. The complaint, submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges Anthropic engaged in 'illegally torrenting, scraping, and downloading' copyrighted musical works and lyrics without authorization to train its Claude AI models. The plaintiffs seek statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work and $25,000 per copyright management information violation. The lawsuit also names Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and co-founder Benjamin Mann as defendants. Anthropic denied the allegations, stating it intends to 'defend itself robustly in court.' The case follows Anthropic's $1.5 billion settlement with authors over book piracy in June 2025, where a court ruled that training on legally purchased books was fair use but acquiring pirated copies was not.
By Emily Rhodes | JQJO News
Left: Left coverage emphasizes corporate accountability and protection of creative workers' rights. Center: Center coverage reports lawsuit details, damages sought, and Anthropic's denial neutrally. Right: Right coverage focuses on regulatory overreach and innovation-stifling litigation.
Music publishers filed copyright complaint in California federal court. https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3365770/sony-music-warner-accuse-anthropic-blatant-theft-major-new-lawsuit
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Major Music Publishers Sue Anthropic Over Copyright Infringement
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