In a significant development in the ongoing debate over AI companies’ rights to use copyrighted material, a US District Judge has ruled against Universal Music Group (UMG) and other music publishers in their preliminary attempt to prevent Anthropic from utilizing their lyrics for training its AI assistant, Claude. 📜⚖️
Judge Eumi Lee found the publishers’ request too broad and noted their failure to prove that Anthropic’s use of the lyrics caused “irreparable harm.” The judge highlighted the unresolved question of fair use in the licensing market for AI training. 🧐
This legal battle began in 2023 when UMG and other publishers sued Anthropic for copyright infringement, alleging the use of at least 500 copyrighted songs. UMG criticized Anthropic’s actions as “theft” rather than innovation. However, by January of this year, both parties reached a partial agreement. Anthropic committed to maintaining existing safeguards against reproducing or distributing copyrighted material and agreed to address copyright concerns promptly with detailed responses. 🤝
