Elvis Presley's music owners sue Anthropic for $41m over 274 songs, claiming its Claude AI 'admitted' copying hits
Elvis Presley's rights holders are seeking $150,000 per song from Anthropic, whose Claude chatbot allegedly admitted its versions of 274 tracks were "edging past 'inspired by'" into reproduction.
Asked to rework Presley songs 'for a modern audience', Claude allegedly replied that its versions kept 'landing very close to the originals'. Authentic Brands Group and co-plaintiffs filed the case on Friday in federal court in San Francisco. Lead lawyer Richard Busch accuses Anthropic of copyright infringement 'at a scale never seen before'. Anthropic says it disagrees with the claims and will defend the case fully.
'Can't Help Falling in Love', 'All Shook Up' and 'Return to Sender' are among the songs.
Busch previously represented Marvin Gaye's estate in the 'Blurred Lines' copyright trial.
The plaintiffs want up to $150,000 per song and all unauthorised copies destroyed.
