Music Publishers Sue Anthropic For $3B Over ‘Flagrant Piracy’ Of 20,000 Works
Anthropic lawsuit escalates as publishers allege $3B in damages for illegally downloading 20,000 copyrighted songs and sheet music.
Matilda
Music Publishers Sue Anthropic For $3B Over ‘Flagrant Piracy’ Of 20,000 Works
Anthropic Lawsuit: Music Publishers Seek $3B for Piracy Claims Major music publishers including Concord and Universal Music Group have filed a landmark $3 billion lawsuit against AI company Anthropic, alleging the firm illegally downloaded over 20,000 copyrighted songs, lyrics, and sheet music compositions to train its Claude AI models. The case centers not on AI training itself—which a federal judge previously deemed legal—but on how Anthropic allegedly acquired the material: through unauthorized bulk downloads constituting "flagrant piracy." Filed January 29, 2026, this suit represents one of the largest non-class action copyright claims in U.S. history and signals escalating tensions between creative industries and AI developers over data sourcing ethics. Credit: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto / Getty Images From 500 Works to 20,000: How the Case Exploded The legal battle began modestly last year when publishers sued Anthropic over roughly 500 copyrighted musical works used in AI tr…
