Music Publishers Sue Anthropic for $3 Billion Over Copyright Infringement

Allegation of Unauthorized Song Use for AI Training

Ethics and copyright debates in the artificial intelligence sector have taken a new turn. According to a Reuters report, a group of music publishers led by Concord Music Group and Universal Music Group has filed a lawsuit against AI company Anthropic, seeking over $3 billion in damages. The lawsuit alleges that Anthropic illegally downloaded and used more than 20,000 copyrighted songs, along with their sheet music and lyrics, to train its chatbot named Claude.

Iconic Works and a Major Damages Claim

The works named by Universal Music in the lawsuit include songs by world-renowned artists such as The Rolling Stones, Neil Diamond, and Elton John. Independent publisher Concord represents works by artists like Common, Killer Mike, and Korn. In a statement, the publishers stated that Anthropic's 'multi-billion dollar business empire is actually built on piracy.' If the claimed damages amount is approved, this lawsuit will become one of the largest non-class action copyright cases in US history.

Information from a Previous Lawsuit and Legal Precedent

This lawsuit was filed by the same legal team as the Bartz v. Anthropic case, which concluded last year. The music publishers claim that during the discovery process of that case, they determined Anthropic had illegally downloaded thousands of songs. In the Bartz case, it was found that Anthropic had similarly used authors' works without permission, and a decision was made for $1.5 billion in compensation to be paid to the affected authors. This ruling established a precedent that while training AI models with copyrighted content is legal, accessing that content through pirated means is illegal. This situation brings to mind the regulatory efforts discussed in the news titled OpenAI Seeks Government Aid Guarantee and the solutions proposed by the UK Minister against AI-related job losses.

Tech Giant Companies and Legal Responsibilities

Anthropic is estimated to be worth approximately $350 billion. The outcome of this lawsuit could clarify the responsibilities of AI developers regarding access to and use of copyrighted content. This development is part of the debates concerning the legal limits of data usage by technology giants. Similarly, incidents like Google settling an unauthorized data collection lawsuit for $135 million and Meta's AI chatbot experiments with young users also demonstrate how critical responsibility and ethical standards are in the sector. In particular, the debate over Meta's AI bots and child safety is further proof of how broad the societal impacts of such technologies can be.

How the lawsuit will conclude and how it will affect global standards for the use of copyrighted content in AI training is eagerly awaited.