Sony Music and Warner Chappell are suing Anthropic

<figure> <img alt="Anthropic logo on an orange and grey background." data-caption="" data-portal-copyright="Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/STK269_ANTHROPIC_2_A.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Sony Music and Warner Chappell have <a href="https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/now-sony-music-publishing-and-warner-chappell-sue-anthropic-in-multi-billion-dollar-lawsuit-one-of-the-largest-and-most-blatant-ongoing-thefts-of-intellectual-property-in-history/">filed suit against Anthropic</a> in the US District Court for the Northern District of California seeking damages for "tens of thousands" copyrighted works. The companies are asking for up to $150,000 per work, plus up to $25,000 for each instance when identifiable copyright data was stripped. In total, the damages could amount to several billion dollars if a court finds in Sony and Warner's favor and awards the maximum amount. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">This is just the latest high-profile suit against Anthropic, which recently settled a suit <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/20/24224450/anthropic-copyright-lawsuit-pirated-books-ai">brought by the publishing industry</a> for <a href="https://www.theverge.com/anthropic/773087/anthropic-to-pay-1-5-billion-to-authors-in-landmark-ai-settlement">$1.5 billion</a>. It's also <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/3/24334866/anthropic-claude-music-publishers-lyric-copyright-lawsuit-deal">faced</a> <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/19/23924100/universal-music-sue-anthropic-lyrics-copyright-katy-perry">multiple</a> <a href="https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/umg-concord-and-abkco-sue-anthropic-for-3bn-in-what-could-be-single-largest-non-class-action-copyright-case-in-us-history/">lawsuits</a> from …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/986438/sony-music-warner-chappell-anthropic-lawsuit-copyright">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>