Sony and Warner Music Sue Anthropic Over Michael Jackson Songs Used to Train AI

Michael Jackson’s catalog has become part of a major legal fight over artificial intelligence. Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell filed a federal lawsuit against Anthropic on Friday, August 28, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accusing the AI company of illegally copying song lyrics including Jackson’s work to train its Claude models.

What the lawsuit alleges

According to reporting on the complaint, Anthropic obtained hundreds of copyrighted lyrics and musical compositions through torrent downloads and other unauthorized sources, then used that material to train Claude. The publishers’ filing reportedly names The Beatles, Taylor Swift and Michael Jackson among hundreds of artists whose publishing rights Sony and Warner control.

The lawsuit alleges that this training allowed Claude to reproduce copyrighted lyrics “verbatim” when prompted, and that Anthropic used the material to teach the AI to generate new song lyrics that the publishers say compete directly with the work of their songwriters. The suit reportedly names Anthropic co-founders Dario Amodei and Benjamin Mann individually, alleging that company leadership directed the effort to gather the material. These are allegations made in a legal filing, not findings a court has made.

The publishers are seeking damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work, a figure that given the number of songs cited, could add up to a substantial sum if the case succeeds. No court has ruled on the merits of the case, and it remains in its early stages.

The publishers’ argument

In their filing, Sony and Warner explained why they’re pursuing the case now. They pointed to Anthropic’s $1.5 billion settlement last year with a group of authors who brought a similar claim over books used in AI training, at the time, the largest copyright recovery of its kind. The publishers argue that settlement wasn’t large enough to change Anthropic’s behavior, stating in the complaint that the company “clearly considers that to be just the cost of doing business,” given what they describe as a valuation of roughly $2 trillion.

Anthropic’s response

Anthropic has denied wrongdoing. A company spokesperson said this is “the third lawsuit from the same lawyers, recycling allegations from cases already before the courts,” and said Anthropic will defend itself “robustly.” The company has maintained in related litigation that training AI models on copyrighted material qualifies as fair use, pointing to a ruling from the judge overseeing the authors’ case that was favorable to that argument.

Part of a bigger pattern

This isn’t the first time Anthropic has faced a lawsuit over music. Universal Music Group sued the company in 2023 and expanded its case earlier this year into a joint $3 billion suit alongside Concord Music Group and ABKCO Music, also centered on song lyrics used in AI training. BMG Rights Management filed a separate suit in March over lyrics tied to artists including Bruno Mars and Ariana Grande. Together, these cases reflect a broader legal battle across the music industry over how AI companies can use copyrighted lyrics and compositions to train their systems.

Why it matters for Jackson’s catalog

Michael Jackson’s publishing rights are held by multiple companies, and Sony has long had ties to his catalog through its music division. His inclusion in this lawsuit doesn’t indicate any dispute specific to his estate, his songs are cited as part of the broader body of work Sony and Warner say was used without authorization. Neither Jackson’s estate nor his family has issued a separate statement on the case, and the litigation is being pursued by the publishers, not the estate.

No trial date has been set. As with the other pending suits against Anthropic, the outcome here could help shape how courts treat AI training on copyrighted music, a question with implications for songwriters, publishers and AI companies well beyond this one case.