Elvis Presley Rights Holders Sue Anthropic Over Claude Lyrics

What the plaintiffs claim

The complaint argues that Claude has used protected content since its earliest releases. According to the plaintiffs, the filtering measures Anthropic put in place to prevent such responses are insufficient, and the company was aware of the problem.

The filing, signed by attorney Richard S. Busch, accuses Anthropic of building its business on copyright infringement on an unprecedented scale. It says that infringement continued despite the safeguards the company introduced.

The rights holders seek up to $150,000 per allegedly infringed work. Across the 274 compositions, that adds up to $41.1 million, roughly €36.7 million at the European Central Bank reference rate. That figure is a damages claim, not a ruling.

A wider fight between music and AI

The suit adds to a growing list of actions by the music industry against AI companies using its catalog. Universal, Sony and Warner have been involved in some of these disputes. Musicians have also complained about misuse of their works and voices, and fear being replaced by AI. Tracks with AI-reproduced artist voices have already appeared on streaming platforms.

Spotify, for its part, says it has removed more than 50 million tracks it considers low quality or spam from its recommendations in 2026, linking the move to the surge in AI-generated content. These are recommendation changes, not deletions from the catalog.