Music Publishers Counter Anthropic's Dismissal Bid in Major AI Copyright Battle

By Marcus Bennett

December 12, 2024 at 06:11 AM

Major music publishers are challenging Anthropic's latest dismissal motion in an ongoing copyright infringement dispute focused on the company's AI chatbot, Claude. The case centers on allegations that Anthropic used copyrighted song lyrics during its AI training process.

Microchip with AI text overlay

Microchip with AI text overlay

Key Points of Publishers' Response:

  • Publishers claim Anthropic's dismissal motion is procedurally improper, filed before formally answering the lawsuit
  • They argue Anthropic is attempting to gain litigation advantage by avoiding admission of key facts
  • Publishers maintain they aren't required to document every instance of infringement to establish secondary infringement claims
  • The response highlights that discovery process hasn't revealed full extent of third-party usage of Claude's lyric capabilities

Legal Arguments:

  • Publishers assert Anthropic copied lyrics during Claude's training without making efforts to remove copyrighted content
  • The filing emphasizes that proving secondary copyright liability doesn't require naming specific infringing users
  • Publishers argue dismissal would be premature before full discovery of how third parties have used Claude's capabilities

Background Context: The lawsuit was filed approximately one year ago by major publishers including Concord and UMPG. Publishers are seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent Anthropic from using lyrics in outputs and future AI training.

3D blue AI text on abstract

3D blue AI text on abstract

The case represents a significant legal battle over AI training practices and their intersection with copyright law, with potential implications for the entire AI industry's approach to using copyrighted materials in training datasets.

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