Authentic Brands Group, the licensing group owning the rights to Elvis Presley’s music and license, has filed a $41 million copyright infringement lawsuit against AI company Anthropic. Filed on October 23, the lawsuit alleges that Anthropic trained its Claude AI model on 274 Presley songs without permission, seeking roughly $150,000 per song.
Authentic Brands Group Sues Anthropic over Elvis Songs
- Authentic Brands Group and co-plaintiffs are suing Anthropic for $41 million over the alleged unlicensed use of 274 Elvis Presley songs to train the Claude AI model.
- The complaint claims that Anthropic’s Claude continues to produce infringing derivative works even after the company instituted guardrails following prior legal actions.
- While major record labels have previously sued Anthropic, this case marks one of the first high-profile copyright lawsuits brought by the owner of a single artist’s catalog.
The $41 Million Copyright Claim Filed in Tennessee
Authentic Brands Group filed the lawsuit alongside multiple co-plaintiffs who hold ownership rights over Presley rights. According to Pitchfork, the disputed catalog includes iconic tracks such as “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Farther Along,” “If You Think I Don’t Need You,” and “Run On.”
Lead attorney Richard Busch outlined the core argument in an official statement provided to Pitchfork, stating that the plaintiffs brought the action to enforce their exclusive rights against a defendant that built its entire business model on copyright infringement at a scale never seen before. The plaintiffs are seeking approximately $150,000 in statutory damages for each of the 274 infringed works, driving the total demanded sum to $41 million.
🚨 JUST IN: Elvis Presley’s rights holders sued Anthropic over AI training on 274 songsThe lawsuit, filed by Authentic Brands Group, alleges Anthropic trained its models on 274 of Presley’s songs without permission. It seeks $150,000 per infringed track, roughly $41 million.… pic.twitter.com/6AG7JjN243
| Case Detail | Plaintiff Metric |
|---|---|
| Filing Date | October 23 |
| Jurisdiction | Tennessee |
| Disputed Songs | 274 tracks |
| Damages Demanded | $41 million (~$150,000 per song) |
Claude AI Fails to Prevent Copyright Violations
The legal filing digs into the technical behavior of Anthropic’s Claude model, arguing that safety measures implemented by the tech company have failed to prevent copyright violations. The lawsuit details how the AI system reacts when prompted to recreate specific songs for modern audiences.
“Even after the Defendant supposedly put up ‘guardrails’ after being sued, in one of its latest iterations, Claude continues to infringe: when recently asked to recreate specific songs ‘for a modern audience,’ Claude did so and admitted: ‘These renders keep landing very close to the originals: same structure, same hooks reused with light rewording, and full sets of verses/choruses/bridges,'” the lawsuit reads. The legal complaint stresses that this output pushes past mere inspiration and enters the territory of reproducing the copyrighted song even when individual words are swapped out.
Elvis Presley’s music owners sued Anthropic for about $41M, alleging Claude was trained on 274 songs.Authentic Brands Group filed the federal case, ABE EPE LLC v. Anthropic, alongside several publishers that co-own the catalog.Its demand multiplies those 274 works by $150K,… pic.twitter.com/w89NVIM2Wa
Anthropic Denies Claims in Single Artist Catalog Case
Anthropic has pushed back against the allegations. A representative for Anthropic told Pitchfork that the company disagrees with the claims and intends to defend the case fully.
While major music publishers and record labels have previously brought copyright actions against AI developers, this litigation stands apart. Authentic Brands Group’s lawsuit represents one of the initial high-profile legal battles where the dedicated rights holder of a single artist’s catalog has initiated independent infringement proceedings over AI training data.
🚨 According to Billboard, Elvis Presley's music owners are suing Anthropic for $41 million over 274 songs, and the lawsuit quotes Claude describing its own rewrites:> "same structure, same hooks reused with light rewording"> Filed October 23 by Authentic Brands Group… pic.twitter.com/8hS7KWpf9s
Yes, true. Authentic Brands Group and other Elvis rights holders sued Anthropic on Oct 23, claiming it trained Claude on 274 of his songs without permission. They seek up to $150k per song (about $41M). Claims remain allegations, not yet proven in court.
