Million-dollar lawsuit over Elvis songs in Claude's training

The plaintiffs are seeking damages totaling more than $41 million over alleged copyright infringement. According to the «New York Times», this amount corresponds to a demand of $150,000 per song. The plaintiffs thus quantify the financial consequences of training with Presley songs.

The dispute concerns how copyright should be protected when music is used to develop AI systems. The question also arises as to whether the recordings used for training entered the models without permission from the rights holders. The lawsuit alleges that this occurred without the consent of the administrators of the Presley estate.

Copyright protection in AI training

The exact status of the proceedings has not been documented. The available information does not indicate whether a court has already accepted or dismissed the lawsuit, nor whether a hearing has been scheduled. No response from Anthropic is recorded in the verified facts.

The reporting focuses on the scale of the training and the amount sought. More than 270 songs and more than $41 million illustrate both the extent of the training material and the economic dimension of the legal dispute. There is no information on individual titles or how the songs are specifically identified in the proceedings.

What is known so far

The lawsuit was reported by the «New York Times», which several of the verified details rely on. Anthropic and the Claude chatbot are at the center of the proceedings, while the rights to Elvis Presley's musical estate form the basis of the claims.

Until a court ruling is made, it remains unclear whether the alleged use of the songs actually constitutes an impermissible copyright violation and whether the amount sought will be awarded. In any event, the court will have to assess which uses are specifically challenged and what legal consequences follow from them.