The lawsuit, filed in 2023 by UMG, Concord, and ABKCO, alleges that Anthropic used lyrics from at least 500 songs without permission. This case is part of a broader legal landscape where various creators argue that their copyrighted works have been used without consent to develop AI technologies. Tech companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Meta Platforms claim their use of such materials constitutes "fair use" under U.S. copyright law. Judge Lee's decision did not address the fair use argument, but she noted that the publishers' request involved defining a licensing market for AI training, a matter complicated by the unsettled nature of fair use in this context.
Key takeaways:
- A California federal judge rejected a preliminary bid to block Anthropic from using lyrics owned by music publishers to train its AI chatbot Claude.
- The judge ruled that the publishers' request was too broad and they failed to show irreparable harm caused by Anthropic's conduct.
- The lawsuit is part of a broader trend where copyright holders claim their works have been misused without consent to develop AI products.
- Fair use is expected to be a key issue in these lawsuits, though it was not specifically addressed in this ruling.