UMG sues Anthropic for $3bn over ‘brazen’ copyright infringement of 20,000+ songs

UMG sues Anthropic for $3bn over ‘brazen’ copyright infringement of 20,000+ songs

A coalition of music publishers has filed a second copyright infringement lawsuit against AI company Anthropic, and it’s a big one.

The companies, including Universal Music Publishing Group, Concord Music Group, and ABKCO Music, are seeking more than $3 billion in potential statutory damages over alleged infringement of more than 20,000 songs.

The complaint, filed today (January 28) in the Northern District of California, represents a dramatic escalation from the publishers’ first lawsuit against Anthropic, which was filed in October 2023 and covered around 500 works with potential damages of around $75 million.