Anthropic and music publishers including Universal Music Publishing Group, Concord and ABKCO presented competing arguments on October 21 over whether using copyrighted song lyrics to train Claude qualifies as fair use. At the San Jose hearing, U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee questioned both sides about potential harm to publishers’ markets. The publishers allege unauthorized copying and infringement, while Anthropic argues that its training serves a transformative purpose. No immediate ruling was reported.
The dispute could influence how songwriters and publishers negotiate licenses for AI training and protect the commercial value of their lyrics. Both sides are seeking summary judgment—a decision on the relevant claims without a trial—but the court has not yet resolved the fair-use question. The case concerns lyrics and Claude’s training and outputs; it does not automatically determine the legality of voice cloning, audio sampling or other uses of music AI.
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