Concord Music Group, Universal Music Publishing Group and ABKCO Music have filed an amended US lawsuit accusing Anthropic of systematically copying and reproducing copyrighted song lyrics through its Claude AI chatbot. The case matters because it adds detailed allegations based on Anthropic’s internal records, intensifying a wider legal dispute over whether AI companies can train and operate models using protected creative works.

The 71-page complaint concerns about 500 songs and alleges that Claude returned full or near-identical lyrics, sometimes without users naming a song. It cites internal prompts, alleged removal of copyright notices during data extraction, and more than 170,000 lyric-related Claude records over nine days in September 2023. The action is separate from a January 2026 lawsuit covering more than 20,000 songs and seeking over $3 billion, and from Anthropic’s proposed $1.5 billion settlement with authors over alleged use of pirated books.