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Authentic Brands Group sues Anthropic over Elvis Presley copyrights
Authentic Brands Group and several co-plaintiffs have filed a lawsuit against AI company Anthropic, alleging the unauthorized use of 274 Elvis Presley songs to train its Claude AI models. The lawsuit, filed on October 23, 2026, in a California federal court, claims that Anthropic infringed on copyrights for iconic tracks including “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” and “All Shook Up.”
The plaintiffs are seeking approximately $41 million in damages, calculated at $150,000 per song. The legal action alleges that Anthropic bypassed digital rights management and removed copyright information to ingest the music. Furthermore, the suit claims that despite implemented guardrails, Claude continues to generate infringing outputs that closely mimic the structure, hooks, and verses of the original works.
Lead attorney Richard Busch stated that the defendant built its business model on copyright infringement at an unprecedented scale. While Anthropic has previously argued that training AI on copyrighted material constitutes fair use, the company has indicated it intends to defend itself against these specific claims.
Entities
Anthropic · Authentic Brands Group · Claude · Elvis Presley · Richard Busch
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [● 36 SOURCES] The lawsuit against Anthropic was filed on October 23, 2026. front-row.jp · www.nme.com · pitchfork.com · www.losmocanos.com · yve-style.com · +31 more
- [● 36 SOURCES] The plaintiffs allege Anthropic used 274 Elvis Presley songs for AI training without permission. front-row.jp · www.formosadeportiva.com.ar · yve-style.com · novini247.com · www.rollingstone.com · +31 more
- [● 4 SOURCES] Anthropic is facing other lawsuits from Universal Music Publishing, Abcko, Concord, and BMG regarding lyric usage. www.hollywoodreporter.com · www.jnilbo.com · www.aktuelno.me · theneedledrop.com
- [● 36 SOURCES] Lead attorney Richard Busch claims the defendant built its business model on copyright infringement at an unprecedented scale. front-row.jp · www.formosadeportiva.com.ar · yve-style.com · novini247.com · www.rollingstone.com · +31 more
- [● 23 SOURCES] Authentic Brands Group controls the licensing for Elvis Presley's music and likeness. www.formosadeportiva.com.ar · yve-style.com · www.billboard.com · pitchfork.com · front-row.jp · +18 more
- [● 36 SOURCES] The plaintiffs are seeking $150,000 per song, totaling approximately $41 million. front-row.jp · www.formosadeportiva.com.ar · yve-style.com · novini247.com · www.rollingstone.com · +31 more
- [● 8 SOURCES] Anthropic has previously argued that training AI models on copyrighted material is protected under fair use law. front-row.jp · www.nme.com · pitchfork.com · theneedledrop.com · www.billboard.com · +3 more
- [● 35 SOURCES] Claude continues to generate infringing outputs despite implemented guardrails. front-row.jp · www.rollingstone.com · balkanrock.com · www.rollingstone.de · www.nme.com · +30 more