Sony, Warner Music sue Anthropic over alleged unlicensed song data use

Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group have launched legal action against Anthropic, accusing the AI developer of systematically incorporating hundreds of copyrighted song lyrics into its training datasets without permission or payment to rights holders. The lawsuits name works by major recording artists including The Beatles, Taylor Swift, and Michael Jackson among the allegedly pirated content used to develop Anthropic's AI systems. The record labels contend that Anthropic's actions constitute copyright infringement on a substantial scale, damaging the interests of musicians and music publishers who rely on licensing revenues. The litigation represents the latest in a series of copyright challenges facing the artificial intelligence industry, as creative professionals and content owners increasingly scrutinize how their work is used in AI development. Anthropic has not yet issued a public response to the allegations. The cases underscore growing tensions between AI companies seeking to build comprehensive training datasets and copyright holders seeking to protect intellectual property rights and secure appropriate compensation for commercial use of their works.