Elvis Presley rights holders sue Anthropic over 274 compositions
A unit of Authentic Brands Group and other rights owners allege the Claude maker trained superintelligence (SI) models on the songs without permission.
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A unit of Authentic Brands Group and other rights owners allege the Claude maker trained superintelligence (SI) models on the songs without permission.
Elvis Presley’s music rights holders sued Anthropic on October 23, 2026, alleging that the company used 274 copyrighted compositions without permission to train its superintelligence (SI) models. An October 26 account puts their damages demand at $48.6 million, differing from the previously reported $41 million, while Anthropic disputes the claims.
The case, first detailed in Billboard’s October 24 report, concerns the songs themselves rather than sound recordings. Anthropic, the company behind Claude, already faced similar copyright cases from music publishers and others in creative industries.
In its October 26 report, Variety said the plaintiffs seek damages and an order requiring Anthropic to stop the alleged infringement. Its damages figure differs from the amount in Engadget’s October 26 article, which cited The New York Times.
| October 26 account | Damages sought |
|---|---|
| Variety | $48.6 million |
| Engadget, citing The New York Times | $41 million |
The reason for the difference remains unclear. The figures are conflicting accounts of the demand, not an established increase in it. Neither amount is a court award.
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The plaintiffs also allege that Anthropic bypassed digital rights management (DRM) protections and removed or altered copyright-management information for 247 songs. Those songs are a subset of the 274 compositions covered by the lawsuit.
DRM protections restrict access to or copying of protected material. Copyright-management information identifies a work, its rights owners or the terms governing its use. The allegations about bypassing protections and changing that information remain claims for the court to decide.
The plaintiffs include a unit of Authentic Brands Group and other entities that own Presley-related rights. Authentic Brands Group is a licensing company that largely controls Presley’s intellectual property rights, including much of his song catalogue, trademarks and rights to his name, image and likeness.
The compositions cited include “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” “A Little Less Conversation” and “Don’t Be Cruel.” The filing alleges that Anthropic unlawfully used music to build technology that produces “unlicensed derivative works”—new works based on existing copyrighted material without the rights owners’ permission.
SI companies argue that using existing works to train models is protected by copyright’s fair-use defence, which can permit use without a rights owner’s permission. That question remains unresolved across dozens of lawsuits. Anthropic has previously made that argument about training its models on copyrighted music.
Anthropic says it disagrees with the claims and intends to defend the case fully. The Presley rights holders’ case awaits a court determination of infringement and liability.
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Update ·
Adds the conflicting $48.6 million and $41 million damages figures, the request to stop the alleged infringement and Anthropic’s response.
Update ·
Adds the $41 million damages demand, allegations concerning digital protections and copyright information for 247 songs, and Anthropic’s denial and intention to defend the case.