Elvis Presley's Estate Sues Anthropic for $41 Million Over AI Training

Elvis Presley's music rights holders have filed a $41 million lawsuit against Anthropic, accusing the AI company of training its models on 274 of the singer's songs without permission.

The plaintiffs - a group that includes Authentic Brands Group, Raleigh Music Publishing, multiple trusts and at least one individual - allege Anthropic bypassed DRM protections and stripped or altered copyright management information from 247 songs, among them hits like Don't Be Cruel, Can't Help Falling in Love and A Little Less Conversation. The suit was filed on October 23rd.

Lead attorney Richard Busch wrote that the plaintiffs brought the action to enforce their exclusive rights against a defendant that "has built its entire business model based on copyright infringement at a scale never seen before." The complaint notes Elvis sold more than a billion records.

Anthropic faces similar suits from Sony, Warner, Universal Music and Concord Music Group. The company has argued that training on copyrighted music is "fair use" and told The New York Times it disagrees with the claims and will defend itself.

Source: Engadget