Elvis estate sues Anthropic for $41 million over 274 songs

The suit arrives after AI companies have already been taken to court by record labels including Universal and Warner Bros. and by the RIAA. What sets this case apart is the plaintiff: Authentic Brands Group, the licensing group controlling Presley's music and likeness, acting through the entity ABE EPE LLC. The complaint argues Anthropic built its business model on copyright infringement 'at a scale never seen before,' and it focuses on 274 specific songs spanning hits and lesser-known tracks.

A central factual claim is that Anthropic's safeguards did not stop the conduct. The lawsuit states that even after the company 'supposedly put up guardrails' following earlier litigation, Claude reproduced Presley material when asked to recreate songs for a modern audience, with the filing quoting Claude's own output about renders landing 'very close to the originals.' That allegation, if it holds, could undercut the argument that post-hoc filters are an adequate response to training on copyrighted works.

The lead attorney, Richard Busch, has litigated high-profile music copyright cases before, including the Marvin Gaye estate's action against Robin Thicke and Pharrell over 'Blurred Lines.' As in that case, the Presley complaint frames the AI output as unlicensed derivative works, a theory that, if accepted, would extend music-copyright precedent into generative AI.