Sony and Warner Sue Anthropic Over Alleged Mass Copyright Theft in AI Training
Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell Music filed suit against AI company Anthropic on August 28, alleging the company illegally used copyrighted songs to train its Claude family of AI models. According to Far Out Magazine, the complaint names Anthropic co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei and co-founder Benjamin Mann as individual defendants. The plaintiffs describe the case as "one of the largest and most brazen thefts of intellectual property in history."
What the lawsuit alleges
The complaint claims Anthropic ran an operation of "illegal torrenting, scraping and downloading" of copyrighted works, then used that material to develop and commercially operate the Claude models.
The two publishers are seeking damages for "tens of thousands" of copyrighted works, at up to $150,000 per work, plus $25,000 for each instance in which identifying copyright management information was allegedly stripped from a work. If the claims hold up in court, total damages could reach billions of dollars.
Anthropic has denied the allegations, issuing a brief statement: "We disagree with the publishers' claims," and said it intends to defend itself vigorously in court.
Songs named in the complaint
- Bon Jovi, "Livin' on a Prayer"
- Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"
- Leonard Cohen, "Hallelujah"
- Taylor Swift, "Paper Rings"
One of several suits Anthropic is facing
Anthropic is already being sued by Universal Music Group, Concord and ABKCO, with separate suits filed by BMG and Round Hill Music — all centered on the copyright status of AI training data.
In June 2025, a court found that Anthropic had downloaded more than 7 million pirated books to train its models, and the company was ordered to pay $1.5 billion.
Regulators are watching AI music too
Separately, Australia has moved to ban AI-generated music from its charts. That step followed a Josh Fawaz cover of Madonna's "Like a Prayer" becoming the most-played song on Australian radio, which last month reached No. 4 on two ARIA charts.