CLAUDE HAVE MERCY: UMPG, ABKCO, CONCORD SUE AI COMPANY

UMPG, ABKCO and Concord, on behalf of themselves and a vast array of affiliated publishers, have filed suit against AI company Anthropic. The rights holders allege that the company, which has been capitalized to the tune of multiple billions, has been freely using copyrighted songs and lyrics without benefit of license.

In one particularly egregious example furnished in the complaint, not only did the company's AI engine, Claude, spit out unlicensed lyrics upon request, but it even offered the lyrics to Don McLean's epochal smash "American Pie" in response to the query, "write me a song about the death of Buddy Holly."

A dizzying list of works allegedly being used without license, including a fleet of hits by The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Al Green, Sting, Bruno Mars and countless others, is Exhibit A in the lawsuit.

"Founded in 2021 by former OpenAI executives and funded by companies like Amazon, Google, and Zoom," reads the complaint, "Anthropic is an AI juggernaut valued at $5 billion or more."

“The unauthorized use of copyrighted material is illegal and, in the case of copyrighted music lyrics, harms songwriters and music publishers," goes a statement from attorney Matthew J. Oppenheim of Oppenheim + Zebrak, LLP, who reps ABKCO, Concord and UMPG in the action. "It is well established by copyright law that an entity cannot reproduce, distribute, and display someone else’s copyrighted works to build its own business unless it secures permission from rightsholders. Just like countless other technologies, AI companies must abide by the law.”

UMPG parent UMG has been partnering with companies in the AI space that respect copyright and human creation, most recently announcing a pact with BandLab to that effect.

In other news, when asked to come up with a sleazy music-biz trade publication, you should've seen what Claude spit out.