Universal Music Group, Concord Music Group, and ABKCO have filed a lawsuit against Anthropic, a company specializing in generative artificial intelligence. The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Tennessee, accuses Anthropic of "systematic and widespread infringement" for using copyrighted lyrics from artists like Katy Perry, The Rolling Stones, and Beyoncé to train their AI systems.

This lawsuit is particularly noteworthy as it marks the first time music publishers have taken legal action against an AI company for copyright infringement related to lyrics. It follows a similar suit by the Authors Guild against OpenAI, alleging mass-scale copyright infringement.

The complaint states that Anthropic has neither sought nor secured permission from the publishers to use their copyrighted material. This is highlighted as a double standard, as Anthropic itself would not want its proprietary code used without authorization.

The lawsuit cites Anthropic's Claude AI chatbot as evidence, which, when prompted, provided nearly identical lyrics to Katy Perry's "Roar," owned by Concord. The publishers argue that Anthropic's actions are undermining an existing market of lyric aggregators and websites that have legally licensed their works. By not licensing the content, Anthropic is not only depriving the publishers of control over their copyrighted works but also competing unfairly against those who respect copyright laws.

The publishers aim to counter any fair use defense that Anthropic might raise. They point to the recent Supreme Court decision in Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts v. Goldsmith, which emphasized that the "commercial nature of the use" must be balanced against whether the work was sufficiently transformed.

The lawsuit alleges multiple types of copyright infringement: direct, vicarious, and contributory. It also includes a claim for the illegal removal of copyright management information. The publishers are seeking a court order to prevent Anthropic from using their copyrighted material and are demanding up to $150,000 in damages per infringement.

Matthew Oppenheim, a copyright attorney representing the publishers, stated that “It is well established by copyright law that an entity cannot reproduce, distribute, and display someone else’s copyrighted works to build its own business unless it secures permission from rightsholders.”

This lawsuit raises critical questions about the intersection of copyright law and artificial intelligence, setting the stage for what could be a landmark case in intellectual property law.