Anthropic Sued Over Alleged Unauthorised Use of Elvis Presley Songs, With About $41 Million Claimed
A legal fight has begun against the AI company Anthropic over allegations of stealing the songs of legendary American singer Elvis Presley. The allegation is that the technology company trained its AI model using hundreds of Elvis's timeless songs without taking any permission.
The news of the lawsuit was first reported last Friday by the music magazine Billboard. The suit alleges that the company behind the Claude AI model infringed the copyright of hundreds of Elvis Presley's songs. They include popular songs such as 'Can't Help Falling in Love', 'A Little Less Conversation' and 'Don't Be Cruel'.
Compensation of 150,000 dollars has been claimed for each song, bringing the total to about 41 million dollars.
Although large music companies such as Universal Music Group have previously sued various AI firms over allegations of intellectual property theft, this is described as the largest legal step so far taken on behalf of a single artist.
The case has been filed by a branch of Authentic Brands Group, the company that controls Elvis Presley's intellectual property, his song catalogue, brand trademarks and the rights to his name, image and identity. Several other holders of Elvis rights have also joined the case.
The lead lawyer for the case, Richard Bush, said: 'Anthropic has built its entire business structure on stealing other people's content. We have taken the legal path to protect the creations of a legend like Elvis Presley. We are determined to protect the rights in his songs.'
Earlier, three major music companies also sued the leading AI song generator Suno over allegations of theft in its training process. Although Suno reached a settlement with Warner Music Group last year, its legal fight with Universal Music and Sony Music is still continuing.
