Sony and Warner Music Sue Anthropic: What the Latest AI Training Case Means for Businesses Using AI

Copyright disputes over AI training are becoming one of the biggest legal questions surrounding generative AI. The latest example is a claim brought by Sony and Warner Music against Anthropic, alleging that copyrighted song lyrics were used without permission to train its AI models. For businesses using AI, the significance goes beyond the outcome of one case. These disputes could affect how AI tools are built, what they are allowed to reproduce and the protections businesses need when relying on third-party models.

What Happened?

The music publishing arms of Sony Music and Warner Music, Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell, filed a complaint against Anthropic in California federal court on 28th August 2026. They allege that Anthropic obtained song lyrics and sheet music through torrent downloads and scraping, used them to train its Claude models, and that Claude can reproduce copyrighted lyrics verbatim when prompted. They also allege that the models were used to generate large volumes of new AI-written lyrics that compete with their catalogues as market substitutes.

The publishers are seeking statutory damages of up to $150,000 for each infringed work, $25,000 for each instance of copyright management information being removed, and an order restraining Anthropic from using their works. These remain allegations at an early stage in a case that has not been tested, and Anthropic has defended its training practices in earlier proceedings.

What Does This Change For A Business That Uses AI Tools?

A company using Claude, ChatGPT or another third-party AI tool is in a very different position from the company that trained the underlying model. The legal dispute is primarily about how those models were built and what material was used to train them.

But these cases still matter commercially. If courts begin restricting how copyrighted material can be used for AI training, model providers may need to change their training practices, licensing arrangements or the functionality of their tools. That could affect the models businesses rely on, the features available to them and potentially the cost of using those services.

Businesses should therefore be looking less at the underlying copyright arguments and more at their own contractual position. In particular, it is worth understanding what an AI provider promises about the lawful development of its models, what intellectual property indemnities it offers, whether those protections apply to the particular product or subscription being used, and what happens if a model or feature has to be withdrawn or materially changed.

The other issue is output. Even where a business has no involvement in model training, it still needs appropriate controls around how AI-generated material is used. Outputs that reproduce or closely resemble third-party content may create separate copyright risks, particularly where they are used externally or incorporated into commercial products. Human review, provenance checks where appropriate, and clear internal rules around the use of generated content therefore remain important.

The practical takeaway is not that businesses should avoid generative AI while these cases are being decided. It is that reliance on AI increasingly needs to be treated like reliance on any other important third-party technology. You must understand what sits behind the service, check what your contract protects you against, and have a plan for what happens if the legal or technical position changes.

How Can Gerrish Legal Help?

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We give companies the support they need to successfully and confidently run their businesses whilst complying with legal regulations without the burdens of keeping up with ever-changing digital requirements. 

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