Elvis Rights Holders Sue Anthropic: 274 Songs, About $41 Million Sought

What happened

The suit was filed Oct 23 by a subsidiary of Authentic Brands Group together with other companies holding rights to Presley's music, and first reported by Billboard on Oct 24. The plaintiffs allege Anthropic used copyrighted song compositions and lyrics to train Claude without permission or payment, and that the technology can generate unauthorised versions of existing songs.

Songs named in the complaint include 'Can't Help Falling in Love', 'All Shook Up', 'Don't Be Cruel', 'A Little Less Conversation', 'Return to Sender' and '(You're the) Devil in Disguise'. The plaintiffs say that even after Anthropic added safeguards, Claude, when asked to recreate specific songs 'for a modern audience', still produced material closely resembling the originals in structure, hooks and full verse and chorus sections. Lead attorney Richard Busch said: 'The Elvis Plaintiffs bring this action to enforce these exclusive rights against the defendant that has built its entire business model based on copyright infringement at a scale never seen before.'

As of Oct 25 reporting, Anthropic had not publicly responded to the new suit. NME notes Anthropic has previously maintained that training AI models on copyrighted material can be protected under US fair-use law. Before this case, music copyright suits against Anthropic came mainly from publishers and labels: in October 2023, Universal Music Publishing Group, Concord and ABKCO sued Anthropic, alleging Claude reproduced copyrighted lyrics; in August 2026, Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell filed suit over lyrics and sheet music by artists including The Beatles, Taylor Swift and Michael Jackson.

Key facts

1. Filing date and plaintiffs: filed Oct 23, 2026, by a subsidiary of Authentic Brands Group and other Presley music rights holders; the group controls much of Presley's intellectual property, including his name, image and likeness rights.
2. Songs at issue: 274 copyrighted songs associated with Presley, including 'Can't Help Falling in Love', 'All Shook Up' and 'Don't Be Cruel'.
3. Core allegation: Anthropic used song compositions and lyrics to train Claude without permission or payment, and Claude still produced near-original output after safeguards were added.
4. Damages sought: up to $150,000 per song in statutory damages, about $41 million for 274 songs (274 times $150,000 is $41.1 million, rounded in reporting to about $41 million).
5. Defendant response: as of Oct 25 reporting, Anthropic had not publicly responded to this case; the company has previously argued its training is protected under US fair-use law.
6. Litigation background: this is an early case of its kind brought by an artist's estate; earlier plaintiffs were publishers and labels, with music copyright suits against Anthropic in October 2023 and August 2026.