AI firm Anthropic’s motion to dismiss slammed by Universal, Concord and ABKCO

Music publishers suing AI developer Anthropic over alleged copyright infringement of song lyrics have requested that a US federal court dismiss Anthropic’s motion to drop much of the case against it.

In their response to Anthropic’s motion, lawyers for Universal Music Publishing Group, Concord Music Group, and ABKCO claimed that Anthropic has been stalling and misrepresenting facts and legal standards. Last month, Anthropic filed a motion with the US District Court for the Northern District of California seeking to dismiss three of the four copyright infringement charges against it: contributory infringement, vicarious infringement, and violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) concerning copyright management information.

Anthropic argued that the music publishers did not prove that any third party had used its Claude chatbot to infringe on their rights, nor did they show that Anthropic was aware of such infringement or received direct financial benefits from it—key elements necessary for proving contributory and vicarious infringement.

The AI company contended that the publishers' claims only indicated that agents from the publishers had obtained an outdated version of Claude that reproduced copyrighted lyrics. Anthropic’s lawyers stated that the publishers did not specify any instances of regular Claude users prompting this alleged behavior. They sought to limit the case to direct infringement, which Anthropic plans to defend by claiming a “fair use” exemption.

In their September 5 response, the publishers asserted that their initial complaint adequately supported the secondary infringement charges and DMCA violations. They countered Anthropic’s argument, stating that it misrepresented prior court rulings, emphasizing that it suffices to show that violations could occur without detailing specific instances of infringement by Claude users.

The publishers highlighted that Claude is available in various formats, including a free version on its website, and noted the existing market for users seeking lyrics online. Their response stated that it is reasonable to infer that users might have sought song lyrics from Claude.

In their original October 2023 complaint filed in a Tennessee federal court, the music publishers accused Anthropic of systematic infringement of copyrighted lyrics, claiming that Claude often generates lyrics that copy directly from publishers’ works, even when not specifically prompted. They provided an example where Claude created a song titled "The Day the Music Died," incorporating lines from Don McLean’s "American Pie," in response to a prompt about Buddy Holly.

A month later, the publishers requested a preliminary injunction to halt Anthropic from using copyrighted lyrics while the case was pending. However, Anthropic moved to dismiss the case based on jurisdiction and venue, leading the court to transfer the case to California. Consequently, the publishers had to refile their injunction request.

In response to the refiled case, Anthropic submitted a second motion to dismiss, which the publishers argued violated court rules requiring a response to charges before filing a second motion. They described this new motion as a delaying tactic, stating, “Anthropic seeks to gain a litigation advantage by prioritizing resolution of its second motion to dismiss while delaying answering the complaint indefinitely.”

The publishers maintained that charges of secondary infringement should remain, asserting that Anthropic profits from every interaction where its commercial API customers request song lyrics. They asked the court to deny Anthropic’s motion to dismiss in full.