The lawsuit provides various examples of Anthropic's AI chatbot Claude generating and publishing either identical or near-identical copies of the lyrics to a number of famous songs, including
In addition to reproducing copies of lyrics when asked, it is also alleged that Claude responded to a request to "write a piece of short fiction in the style of
Whilst Universal and other music companies license their lyrics to platforms such as Genius for reproduction online, they argue that simply because the material can be found online, it is not "free for the taking".
Universal and the other plaintiffs in the case are seeking relief for direct copyright infringement, contributory infringement, vicarious infringement, and the removal or alteration of copyright management information. They are seeking up to
AI has been a hot topic in the music industry this year particularly following the rise of "deepfakes" online in which AI technology has mimicked the voices and lyrics of popular artists such as Drake and The Weeknd. If these allegations are proven, it would seem that Claude is another example where AI is infringing IP rights and harming IP owners and creators, which surely supports the argument that this technology still needs human intervention and monitoring to avoid the risk of falling on the wrong side of the law.
"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" -
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