Elvis Presley's music rights holders sue Anthropic for $48.6M over AI training
American singer Elvis Presley performs onstage with musicians and an orchestra during a concert in the U.S. (Archive Photo)
Music publishers that control the rights to 274 songs recorded by Elvis Presley have filed a $48.6 million lawsuit against artificial intelligence company Anthropic. They accuse the company of using copyrighted material to train its Claude AI models without permission.
The lawsuit was filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. It claims that Anthropic copied the songs without getting licenses or paying royalties, according to The Guardian.
The lawsuit was brought by a company owned by Authentic Brands Group, which bought Presley's intellectual property and trademark rights in 2013. Several music publishers and other rights holders also joined the case.
American singer Elvis Presley plays an electric guitar during his 1968 television special, Elvis, also known as the '68 Comeback Special, in Burbank, California, U.S., 1968. (Archive Photo)
Elvis's famous songs at the center of the copyright dispute
The songs in question include some of Presley's best-known recordings, such as "Can't Help Falling in Love," "All Shook Up," "Don't Be Cruel," "A Little Less Conversation," and "Return to Sender."
The people and groups bringing the lawsuit include Raleigh Music Publishing, Abilene Music, and trusts linked to songwriter Luigi Creatore and the Aberbach family. Their music publishing business previously controlled the rights to songs recorded by Presley.
The lawsuit claims that Anthropic used the copyrighted material to train Claude and also kept copies in an internal collection for developing future AI models.
The rights holders are asking for $150,000 for each of the 274 songs they say were used without permission. That adds up to $41.1 million, and other damages bring their total claim to $48.6 million.
Elvis Presley appears on the official movie poster for "Epic: Elvis Presley in Concert." (Photo via IMDb)
Anthropic denies the claims as the music industry challenges AI training
Lead lawyer Richard Busch accused Anthropic of building its business by breaking copyright rules. He stressed that the people bringing the lawsuit were "deeply protective" of the songs.
Anthropic denied the accusations and said it would fight the lawsuit.
"We disagree with the claims and intend to defend this case fully," the company told NBC News.
The lawsuit is one of a growing number of legal cases between music rights holders and AI developers over the use of copyrighted works to train artificial intelligence systems.