Music Publisher BMG Takes AI Company to Court Over Song Lyrics

BMG Rights Management has filed a federal lawsuit against AI company Anthropic, claiming the tech firm illegally used copyrighted song lyrics from major artists to train its chatbot. The case adds to growing legal battles between content creators and artificial intelligence companies over unauthorized use of copyrighted material.

A major music publisher has taken legal action against an artificial intelligence company, alleging the unauthorized use of popular song lyrics to develop AI technology.

BMG Rights Management filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday in California against Anthropic, claiming the AI firm violated copyright law by incorporating lyrics from major artists into the training data for its Claude chatbot system.

According to the legal filing, Anthropic unlawfully copied song lyrics from chart-topping artists including the Rolling Stones, Bruno Mars, and Ariana Grande, along with other well-known rock and pop performers. BMG alleges this resulted in hundreds of copyright violations.

This legal challenge represents another chapter in an expanding series of court battles between content creators and technology companies over AI training practices. Universal Music Group and additional music publishers previously filed similar claims against Anthropic in 2023, with that case still pending in court.

Last year, Anthropic reached a $1.5 billion settlement agreement with a group of authors who brought comparable allegations regarding AI training methods.

Company representatives from Anthropic had not provided a response to requests for comment by Wednesday.

In a public statement, BMG criticized the AI company’s approach, saying: “Anthropic’s practice of training AI models on copyrighted works sourced from unauthorized torrent sites, among other acts, stands in direct opposition to the standards required of any responsible participant in the AI community.”

Technology companies in the AI sector typically defend their practices by claiming fair use protections apply when transforming copyrighted content into new applications.

BMG, which operates under German media corporation Bertelsmann, has documented 493 specific instances of alleged copyright violations by Anthropic. Under federal copyright law, damages for each infringement can vary widely, potentially reaching $150,000 per work if courts determine the violations were intentional.