U.S. District Judge Eumi K. Lee pressed Anthropic for clearer explanations during an October 30 hearing in its copyright dispute with Concord, Universal Music Publishing-affiliated companies and ABKCO Music. According to Law360, Lee described Anthropic’s fair-use arguments as “slippery” and expressed frustration over obtaining clear answers about the categories of AI-generated outputs at issue. The hearing concerns the publishers’ original lawsuit, Concord Music Group, Inc. et al. v. Anthropic PBC, now proceeding in California under case No. 5:24-cv-03811.

The publishers allege that Anthropic copied protected lyrics into its training data without permission and that Claude subsequently supplied identical or nearly identical versions in written responses. Their complaint includes an example in which a request for a song about Buddy Holly’s death allegedly returned lyrics from “American Pie.” The claims concern the words of musical compositions, rather than AI-generated audio recordings. Anthropic argues that its training use qualifies as fair use, while the publishers contend that the company’s conduct infringes their rights and threatens licensing revenue.

The case’s main developments include:

  • October 18, 2023: Concord, Universal-affiliated publishers and ABKCO file suit in Tennessee over Claude’s alleged copying and distribution of copyrighted lyrics.
  • June 24, 2024: The court transfers the case to the Northern District of California.
  • January 2, 2025: The court approves an agreement requiring Anthropic to maintain safeguards against outputs copying the publishers’ lyrics.
  • March 25, 2025: Judge Lee denies a preliminary injunction seeking to prohibit training on the disputed lyrics, finding insufficient evidence of irreparable harm.
  • April 25, 2025: The publishers file an amended complaint expanding their allegations about training, lyric outputs and removal of copyright information.
  • October 21, 2026: Judge Lee hears competing requests for a ruling without trial on the fair-use dispute.
  • October 30, 2026: A follow-up hearing addresses expert-evidence disputes, with Lee also pressing Anthropic about its explanations of AI-generated outputs.