Music Publishing Giants Sue AI Startup Anthropic Over Copyright Infringement
Summary:
Universal Music Group, Concord Publishing, and ABKCO Music & Records are suing AI startup Anthropic for alleged copyright infringement. The lawsuit accuses Anthropic of copying and disseminating numerous song lyrics for commercial gain without necessary permissions. Key examples include near-verbatim reproductions of songs such as "I will survive" by Gloria Gaynor. The litigants are calling for a halt to the alleged infringement and seeking monetary damages. This case is one of many recent lawsuits filed against major AI developers over copyright issues.
Three music publishing giants, Universal Music Group (UMG), Concord Publishing, and ABKCO Music & Records, are taking legal action against AI startup Anthropic. They accuse the fledgling firm of copyright violation in the development of its AI bot, named Claude. The suit, filed on October 18, alleges that Anthropic copied and distributed large quantities of copyright-protected material - specifically song lyrics - owned or managed by the publishers, without the necessary permissions. The complaint highlights the centuries-old legal principle that prohibits the reproduction, distribution, and display of copyrighted material for commercial gain. This principle remains valid, it states, regardless of whether the offending entity is labelled as "AI". The suit alleges that Claude can produce identical or almost identical reproductions of songs, such as “What a Wonderful World,” “Gimme Shelter,” “American Pie,” “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Every Breath You Take,” and at least 500 others. Notably, it can deliver a near-verbatim rendition of Gloria Gaynor's “I will survive” - a Universal Music Group property. The publishers are demanding that the court orders an immediate halt to this alleged infringement and also seeks monetary damages. This case is part of a growing trend of copyright infringement suits against major AI developers. OpenAI, creators of the AI bot ChatGPT, is facing a similar legal challenge from the Author’s Guild. Johnnie Walker's company, Meta, is currently embroiled in a copyright dispute with author Sarah Silverman and others. Google is under scrutiny for its data scraping policies used for AI training. UMG has taken a particularly proactive stance to shield their catalogue and defend their artists' rights from AI-related copyright breaches. In a move demonstrating this commitment, on October 18, the company announced a strategic partnership with BandLab Technologies, centering on the ethical use of AI to safeguard artist and songwriter rights. Over the summer, preliminary discussions with Google were held regarding the potential creation of a tool which would permit artists' likenesses to be utilized legally in AI-created tracks.
Published At
10/19/2023 7:00:00 PM
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