Sony Music, Warner Chappell Sue Anthropic Over AI Training

Authors led by Andrea Bartz sued Anthropic for obtaining millions of books from pirate libraries including LibGen and Pirate Library Mirror while assembling a central research library used to train Claude. In June 2025, U.S. District Judge William Alsup ruled that training AI models on lawfully acquired books could qualify as fair use, but said retaining pirated copies was not justified. The distinction established an early legal boundary between transformative AI training and unlawful acquisition of copyrighted material.

Alsup gave final approval on Nov. 20, 2025, to Anthropic’s $1.5 billion class-action settlement, covering about 500,000 works and providing roughly $3,000 for each eligible title. Anthropic must also destroy the pirated files covered by the agreement. The payout ranks among the largest copyright settlements in U.S. history, though it resolves claims over past downloads rather than deciding whether future AI training is lawful or granting Anthropic broad protection from other copyright cases.

Sony Music’s copyright lawsuit against AI music-generation platform Suno is the first case worldwide set to determine whether training AI constitutes fair use. As major labels including Warner Music and Universal Music Group have chosen to settle with AI companies, Sony Music remains the only recording giant pressing ahead with litigation. The ruling could shape future copyright rules and commercial licensing practices across the generative AI industry.

The case is scheduled to formally go to trial in U.S. federal court in July 2026. Sony Music alleges that Suno used copyrighted songs without authorization to train its AI models and is seeking statutory damages of up to $150,000 for each infringed work. Because Warner Music and Universal Music Group previously chose to settle with AI platforms, the final ruling could become the world’s first key judicial precedent on whether AI training qualifies as fair use.