Elvis Presley Rights Holders Sue Anthropic Over 274 Songs

Elvis Presley’s rights holders have sued Anthropic, alleging the artificial intelligence company used 274 copyrighted songs to train its models without permission. The complaint, filed October 23, says the company did not obtain consent or pay the relevant rights holders for the material. The plaintiffs include a subsidiary of Authentic Brands Group, which controls much of Presley’s intellectual property, and other entities that hold rights to his music. The songs named in the lawsuit include “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” “All Shook Up,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” “A Little Less Conversation,” “Return to Sender” and “You’re the Devil in Disguise.” The lawsuit alleges that Anthropic’s Claude chatbot can generate unauthorized versions of existing songs. It also claims that, when prompted to recreate songs for a modern audience, Claude produced material closely resembling the originals, despite safeguards intended to prevent it from generating existing lyrics. These are allegations in the complaint, not findings by a court. The plaintiffs are seeking statutory damages of up to $150,000 for each of the 274 songs, or about $41.1 million in total. The amount sought is a maximum claim, not a...