image depicting a whimsical arrangement of cheerful robotic faces, each with speech bubbles featuring musical notes.” src=”https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_Vx–hdWqSfDP05o-O4MXR4toRw=/0x0:3000×2000/1310×873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73824435/STK467_AI_Music.0.jpg” />
Image: The Verge / Shutterstock
Settlement Reached in Anthropic’s Copyright Dispute
A recent settlement has been finalized regarding a copyright infringement lawsuit against Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI model. This legal agreement, approved by US District Judge Eumi Lee on Thursday, mandates that Anthropic reinforce its current protocols during the training of future artificial intelligence systems. Furthermore, it stipulates the establishment of mechanisms enabling music publishers to intervene when potential copyright violations arise.
Lawsuit Background and Allegations
In October 2023, a coalition of music publishers—including heavyweight names such as Universal Music Group and Concord Music Group—initiated legal action against Anthropic. They alleged that the company’s AI was trained on lyrics from over 500 copyrighted songs without proper authorization. The lawsuit claims that when users requested lyrics from popular tracks like Beyoncé’s “Halo,” Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk,” and Maroon 5’s “Moves like Jagger,” Claude responded with extensive portions or complete sections of those lyrics.
The Role of Licensing in Lyrics Distribution
While these publishers recognized that various platforms distribute song lyrics—such as Genius—they pointed out that those entities adhere to licensing agreements for using copyrighted material. According to their claims, Anthropic “purposely eliminated or modified copyright management information” associated with these songs while gathering data for its training process.
Commitments Under the Settlement Agreement
The newly signed agreement ensures that Anthropic will uphold its existing safety measures designed to prevent any misappropriation of copyrighted content in future AI endeavors. Additionally, both parties are set to collaborate sincerely to address any occurrences where current safeguards may fall short; should disputes arise, they will be referred back to court for resolution.
A Statement from Anthropic
An official statement from Anthropic emphasized their commitment not only to avoiding copyright infringement but also outlined numerous preventive strategies already established within their framework. Their spokesperson remarked, “This stipulation aligns with our dedication towards intellectual property compliance.” They further expressed optimism about demonstrating adherence to existing copyright laws by claiming potential fair use in using protected materials for training generative AI models.
Next Steps in Legal Proceedings
The involved music publishers have sought a preliminary injunction aimed at prohibiting anthrophic from incorporating their song lyrics into future AI training efforts—a ruling is anticipated shortly as proceedings move forward over the coming months.
