ABG EPE IP LLC v Anthropic PBC
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ABG EPE IP LLC v Anthropic PBC is a copyright and Digital Millennium Copyright Act action filed in the Northern District of California on October 23, 2026. Music companies, trusts and an individual allege unauthorized use of 274 musical compositions associated with Elvis Presley in Claude’s development and outputs. The complaint asserts rights in compositions and lyrics; it is not a voice-cloning or sound-recording-rights complaint. Its allegations and requested remedies are not judicial findings.[1]
Parties and protected works
The plaintiffs are ABG EPE IP LLC; the Luigi Creatore Trust with Claire Creatore and Stephen Chapman as trustees; the Susan T. Aberbach Revocable Trust with Susan T. Aberbach as trustee; the Decedents Exempt Trust created under the Anne-Rachel Aberbach Family Trust with Steven Lee as trustee; Jason Simeon Aberbach; Abilene Music LLC; and Raleigh Music Publishing LLC. They allege ownership or exclusive control of rights in 274 compositions identified in a referenced Exhibit A. Anthropic PBC is the defendant.[1]
Allegations
The complaint alleges unauthorized copying through scraping and third-party datasets, retention in an indefinite-use internal library, further copying in training, and infringing lyric or derivative outputs. It separately alleges that Anthropic removed song titles, songwriter credits, publisher names and other copyright-management information during data processing, and circumvented access controls on licensed platforms.[1]
The plaintiffs contend that retaining an all-purpose library is legally distinct from a specific training use, citing Bartz v. Anthropic. They also allege that output filters have not prevented infringing reproductions or adaptations. These are the plaintiffs’ legal and factual positions; their account of other litigation does not decide liability or fair use in this action.[1]
Claims and requested relief
The three counts allege direct copyright infringement, circumvention under 17 U.S.C. § 1201, and removal or alteration of copyright-management information under § 1202. For copyright infringement, the plaintiffs request actual damages and attributable profits or, alternatively, up to $41.1 million in statutory damages for alleged willful infringement of the 274 works. The complaint separately requests $685,000 for the circumvention count and $6.85 million for the copyright-management-information count as statutory alternatives.[1]
The prayer also seeks declarations, a permanent injunction, an accounting, fees and costs, and impoundment or destruction of unauthorized copies, including alleged copies in training datasets, internal repositories, model weights and server infrastructure. It demands a jury trial. These requests do not establish that an injunction, damages award or destruction order has been entered.[1]
Response
Anthropic disputed the claims and said it would defend the case, according to October 25 reporting.[2]