{"id":10394,"date":"2026-04-22T00:02:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T00:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/anthropic-claude-ai-music-lawsuit-argues-fair-use-finding\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T00:02:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T00:02:50","slug":"anthropic-claude-ai-music-lawsuit-argues-fair-use-finding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/anthropic-claude-ai-music-lawsuit-argues-fair-use-finding\/","title":{"rendered":"Anthropic Argues for Fair Use in UMG\u2019s AI Lawsuit: \u2018Training on Lyrics Is Transformative\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tAnthropic says it\u2019s time to end a copyright lawsuit brought by Universal Music Group (UMG) and other publishers over the use of song lyrics to train Claude, its mega-successful artificial intelligence chatbot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tUMG and the other music companies <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/music-publishers-anthropic-ai-claude-training-copyrights\/\">urged a federal judge last month<\/a> to find that Anthropic\u2019s use of its intellectual property was not \u201cfair use\u201d \u2014 a legal tenet that excludes \u201ctransformative\u201d uses of a work from copyright protection. Now the AI giant is hitting back, saying in a Monday (April 20) brief of its own that the publishers cannot \u201cmeaningfully dispute that training on lyrics (and other copyrighted text) is transformative.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"injected-related-story \/\/ lrv-u-display-inline-block lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-margin-t-2 u-margin-t-26@mobile-max u-margin-b-0.875@mobile-max u-margin-b-150@tablet u-border-t-12 lrv-u-padding-t-025 u-padding-b-1.313 lrv-u-padding-b-125@mobile-max lrv-u-border-color-black\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<h3 id=\"title-of-a-story\" class=\"c-title  lrv-a-unstyle-link lrv-u-whitespace-nowrap u-font-weight-700 lrv-u-display-inline-block u-line-height-18px a-font-accent u-letter-spacing-0225 u-font-size-16 lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-article-badge-underline a-article-esp u-display-inline-flex lrv-u-margin-b-1@mobile-max u-margin-b-9@tablet\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n<div class=\"injected-related-story-wrapper lrv-u-flex lrv-u-justify-content-space-between lrv-u-padding-tb-050@desktop a-children-border-vertical a-children-border--grey a-children-border-width-050\">\n<div class=\"o-card \">\n<p>\t\t\t<a tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/music-publishers-anthropic-ai-claude-training-copyrights\/\" class=\"lrv-u-color-black:hover lrv-u-flex u-flex-direction-column@desktop\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  lrv-u-margin-b-075 lrv-u-margin-b-00@mobile-max u-width-130px@mobile-max\">\n<div class=\"a-crop-6x4 a-crop-3x2@mobile-max\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/anthropic-claude-ai-music-lawsuit-argues-fair-use-finding\/\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/umg-santa-monica-office-2020-billboard-1800.jpg?w=237&amp;h=147&amp;crop=1\" alt=\"Juicy Couture Queen of Everything Mini Duffle Bag\" data-lazy-srcset=\"\" data-lazy-sizes=\"auto\" height=\"\" width=\"\"><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"o-card__content \">\n<p><span class=\"c-span  lrv-u-whitespace-nowrap\"><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"o_category \">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"c_title \">\n<h3 id=\"title-of-a-story\" class=\"c-title  a-font-basic-fancy u-font-size-15 u-font-size-15.5@mobile-max u-line-height-22px u-padding-r-0.188@desktop u-word-spacing-0013 u-line-height-22.5px@mobile-max a-truncate-ellipsis-4line@mobile-max a-truncate-ellipsis-3line\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tUMG Tells Judge Anthropic AI Training Was Clearly Not Fair Use: \u2018The Evidence Is Overwhelming\u2019\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n<p><time class=\"c-timestamp  \" datetime=\"00:00-YY-DD-MM\"><\/p>\n<p><\/time><\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"o-card \">\n<p>\t\t\t<a tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/business\/legal\/tory-lanez-sues-california-prison-system-inmate-stabbing-1236226246\/\" class=\"lrv-u-color-black:hover lrv-u-flex u-flex-direction-column@desktop\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  lrv-u-margin-b-075 lrv-u-margin-b-00@mobile-max u-width-130px@mobile-max\">\n<div class=\"a-crop-6x4 a-crop-3x2@mobile-max\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/anthropic-claude-ai-music-lawsuit-argues-fair-use-finding\/\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Tory-Lanezrs-big-game-2022-billboard-1800.jpg?w=237&amp;h=147&amp;crop=1\" alt=\"Juicy Couture Queen of Everything Mini Duffle Bag\" data-lazy-srcset=\"\" data-lazy-sizes=\"auto\" height=\"\" width=\"\"><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"o-card__content \">\n<p><span class=\"c-span  lrv-u-whitespace-nowrap\"><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"o_category \">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"c_title \">\n<h3 id=\"title-of-a-story\" class=\"c-title  a-font-basic-fancy u-font-size-15 u-font-size-15.5@mobile-max u-line-height-22px u-padding-r-0.188@desktop u-word-spacing-0013 u-line-height-22.5px@mobile-max a-truncate-ellipsis-4line@mobile-max a-truncate-ellipsis-3line\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tTory Lanez Sues California Prison System for $100M Over Stabbing by Inmate\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n<p><time class=\"c-timestamp  \" datetime=\"00:00-YY-DD-MM\"><\/p>\n<p><\/time><\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"o-card \">\n<p>\t\t\t<a tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/business\/legal\/d4vd-arrested-murder-celeste-rivas-body-car-1236224848\/\" class=\"lrv-u-color-black:hover lrv-u-flex u-flex-direction-column@desktop\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  lrv-u-margin-b-075 lrv-u-margin-b-00@mobile-max u-width-130px@mobile-max\">\n<div class=\"a-crop-6x4 a-crop-3x2@mobile-max\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/anthropic-claude-ai-music-lawsuit-argues-fair-use-finding\/\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/P115WTE3-e1772069197628.jpg?w=237&amp;h=147&amp;crop=1\" alt=\"Juicy Couture Queen of Everything Mini Duffle Bag\" data-lazy-srcset=\"\" data-lazy-sizes=\"auto\" height=\"\" width=\"\"><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"o-card__content \">\n<p><span class=\"c-span  lrv-u-whitespace-nowrap\"><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"o_category \">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"c_title \">\n<h3 id=\"title-of-a-story\" class=\"c-title  a-font-basic-fancy u-font-size-15 u-font-size-15.5@mobile-max u-line-height-22px u-padding-r-0.188@desktop u-word-spacing-0013 u-line-height-22.5px@mobile-max a-truncate-ellipsis-4line@mobile-max a-truncate-ellipsis-3line\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tD4vd Arrested for Alleged Murder of Celeste Rivas, Months After Body Found in Singer&#8217;s Car\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n<p><time class=\"c-timestamp  \" datetime=\"00:00-YY-DD-MM\"><\/p>\n<p><\/time><\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tAccording to Anthropic, Claude ingests lyrics alongside trillions of other words to \u201cunderstand the interrelationships between words and concepts in human language\u201d so it can code software, conduct research and write documents. Anthropic says this is what fair use is all about: turning the publishers\u2019 lyrics into something completely different.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201cClaude\u2019s transformative training creates a flexible, general-purpose model that can be used in myriad beneficial ways \u2014 the vast majority of which are wholly unrelated to lyrics or music,\u201d write Anthropic\u2019s lawyers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tAnthropic also says the publishers have no evidence that Claude is harming them in the market, which is another element of a judge\u2019s fair use analysis. The AI company points out that the opposite was actually conveyed by UMG\u2019s own chief digital officer, <strong>Michael Nash<\/strong>, during the company\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/universal-music-2025-earnings-highlights-ai-us-stock\/\">earnings call<\/a> last month, when he told investors, \u201cThoughtful analysis will conclude that the impact AI will have on our business will be overwhelmingly net positive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tIn a statement to <em>Billboard <\/em>on Tuesday (April 21), a rep for the music publishers said, \u201cThere is no excuse for Anthropic\u2019s blatant infringement of Publishers\u2019 copyrighted song lyrics.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"injected-related-story \/\/ lrv-u-display-inline-block lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-margin-t-2 u-margin-t-26@mobile-max u-margin-b-0.875@mobile-max u-margin-b-150@tablet u-border-t-12 lrv-u-padding-t-025 u-padding-b-1.313 lrv-u-padding-b-125@mobile-max lrv-u-border-color-black injected-single-story lrv-u-border-b-1\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<h3 id=\"title-of-a-story\" class=\"c-title  lrv-a-unstyle-link lrv-u-whitespace-nowrap u-font-weight-700 lrv-u-display-inline-block u-line-height-18px a-font-accent u-letter-spacing-0225 u-font-size-16 lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-article-badge-underline a-article-esp u-display-inline-flex lrv-u-margin-b-1@mobile-max u-margin-b-075\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n<div class=\"injected-related-story-wrapper lrv-u-flex lrv-u-justify-content-space-between lrv-u-padding-tb-050@desktop a-children-border-vertical a-children-border--grey a-children-border-width-050\">\n<div class=\"o-card \">\n<p>\t\t\t<a tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/ai-legal-analysis-book-copyright-rulings-music-lawsuits\/\" class=\"lrv-u-color-black:hover lrv-u-flex u-flex-direction-column@desktop\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  lrv-u-margin-b-075 lrv-u-margin-b-00@mobile-max u-width-130px@mobile-max\">\n<div class=\"a-crop-6x4 a-crop-3x2@mobile-max\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/anthropic-claude-ai-music-lawsuit-argues-fair-use-finding\/\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Artificial-Intelligence-AI-billboard-1548.jpg?w=237&amp;h=147&amp;crop=1\" alt=\"Juicy Couture Queen of Everything Mini Duffle Bag\" data-lazy-srcset=\"\" data-lazy-sizes=\"auto\" height=\"\" width=\"\"><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"o-card__content \">\n<p><span class=\"c-span  lrv-u-whitespace-nowrap\"><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"o_category \">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"c_title \">\n<h3 id=\"title-of-a-story\" class=\"c-title  a-font-basic-fancy u-font-size-15 u-font-size-15.5@mobile-max u-line-height-22px u-padding-r-0.188@desktop u-word-spacing-0013 u-line-height-22.5px@mobile-max a-truncate-ellipsis-4line@mobile-max a-truncate-ellipsis-3line\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tWhat Book Authors\u2019 AI Copyright Court Losses Mean for the Music\u00a0Business\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n<p><time class=\"c-timestamp  \" datetime=\"00:00-YY-DD-MM\"><\/p>\n<p><\/time><\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201cAnthropic\u2019s recent filing is wrong on the facts and the law in numerous respects, and Publishers look forward to rebutting those arguments and correcting the record when they file their opposition brief,\u201d added the rep.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tThe question of whether AI training constitutes fair use is an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/ai-legal-analysis-book-copyright-rulings-music-lawsuits\/\">unsettled legal question<\/a> at the heart of dozens of ongoing copyright cases that have been filed against these booming new tech companies in recent years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tThe music industry entered this battle on two fronts: publishers led by UMG <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/universal-music-sues-ai-company-using-songs-train-models\/\">sued Anthropic<\/a> in 2023, and then all three major label groups <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/major-label-lawsuit-ai-firms-suno-udio-copyright-infringement\/\">brought their own copyright cases<\/a> against AI music generators Suno and Udio in 2024. The Suno and Udio lawsuits also remain ongoing, despite some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/what-suno-udio-licensing-deals-mean-future-ai-music\/\">partial licensing settlements<\/a> inked at the end of last year. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ubpass.co\/billboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><br \/>\n  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/2HpFicp.png\" alt=\"Billboard VIP Pass\" style=\"max-width: 100%;height: auto\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Anthropic says it\u2019s time to end a copyright lawsuit brought by Universal Music Group (UMG) and other publishers over the use of song lyrics to train Claude, its mega-successful artificial&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4746,316,177,387,1732,449,444,94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-i","category-ai","category-artificial-intelligence","category-business","category-lawsuit","category-legal","category-legal-news","category-music-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10394\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}