CopyrightAnthropic says training on lyrics is fair use; publishers cite 120,000 requests for "synthetic" lyrics

Anthropic argued in court that training Claude on song lyrics is fair use, in a copyright case brought by Universal Music Group and other music publishers.

Per Reuters on Oct 21, Anthropic's lawyer told a San Jose hearing that AI training produces transformative new content. The publishers' attorney said Claude received nearly 120,000 requests to generate "synthetic" lyrics over six months and argued AI harms the market for human songwriters.

Judge Eumi Lee did not rule. Two other Northern California judges have already split on whether AI training is fair use.