Elvis rights-holders seek up to $41.1m from Anthropic over AI training claims
Elvis Presley’s rightsholders have sued Anthropic in a US court, alleging it used copyrighted songs to train its AI models without permission. They also say Anthropic’s Claude chatbot can produce Elvis lyrics when prompted, and that AI-generated material “in the style of” artists can cost rights-holders income.
The plaintiffs control 274 Elvis songs and are seeking damages and a share of Anthropic’s profits, or $150,000 per work, which would amount to $41.1 million. Anthropic has reportedly said it will defend the case; it previously settled a separate copyright dispute with authors by establishing a $1.5 billion compensation fund.
In short
- Elvis rightsholders allege Anthropic used songs without permission.
- The lawsuit covers 274 songs.
- Plaintiffs seek up to $41.1 million in damages.
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The case for
The rightsholders can argue that training on copyrighted songs without permission uses valuable creative work to build a commercial product, while outputs that reproduce lyrics or imitate an artist may divert income and weaken control over how the work is used. Seeking damages and a share of profits could help enforce copyright and ensure creators are paid when their work contributes to AI services.
The case against
Anthropic can argue that training an AI model involves analysing works to learn patterns rather than distributing copies, and that this may be a distinct use deserving protection under US copyright law. It can also contest whether the alleged training or chatbot outputs infringe these particular works, and whether the requested damages or profit share are justified.
Explained simply
Elvis Presley’s songs are protected by copyright, which gives rights-holders control over how they are copied and used. Those rights can be held by people or companies managing an artist’s music, rather than by the artist themselves.
Anthropic is a US artificial intelligence company that makes Claude, a chatbot that generates text in response to prompts. AI models are trained on large collections of material so they can produce new responses; disputes arise over whether copyrighted works may be used for that training without permission.
The case touches on how copyright applies to AI training and to material generated by chatbots. Its outcome could affect the rights and potential earnings of music owners, as well as how AI companies use creative works.
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Originally published by The Register as “Elvis rightsholders sue Anthropic for stealing songs and leaving them in Heartbreak Hotel”.