BMG Rights Management v Anthropic PBC: Difference between revisions

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Latest revision as of 02:34, 28 April 2026

BMG Rights Management (US) LLC v. Anthropic PBC is a copyright infringement lawsuit filed on March 17, 2026, in which music publisher BMG alleges Anthropic used 493 copyrighted musical compositions to train its Claude AI models without authorization.[1]

Background

On March 17, 2026, BMG Rights Management (US) LLC filed suit against Anthropic PBC in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (San Jose division), case number 5:26-cv-02334.[2]

The complaint alleges that Anthropic copied lyrics from 493 BMG-owned compositions — including works by Bruno Mars, The Rolling Stones, Louis Armstrong, and others — via web scraping and torrenting pirated books from shadow libraries like Library Genesis.[3]

Claims

BMG's 47-page complaint asserts five causes of action:[2]

  1. Direct copyright infringement through training AI models and generating outputs reproducing BMG lyrics
  2. Direct copyright infringement via torrenting pirated materials containing BMG works
  3. Contributory infringement, for enabling user or third-party infringement
  4. Vicarious infringement, for profiting from and controlling infringing activities
  5. Removal or alteration of Copyright Management Information (CMI) under DMCA §1202, alleging Anthropic used tools to strip copyright notices from works

The complaint alleges Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei authorized torrenting to bypass licensing requirements and that Anthropic ignored a December 2025 cease-and-desist letter from BMG.[3]

Relief Sought

BMG demands a jury trial and seeks:[4]

  • Statutory damages up to $150,000 per infringed work (potentially billions for 493 works)
  • Actual damages and profits disgorgement
  • Injunctive relief to halt use of BMG works
  • Costs and attorneys' fees

BMG has requested assignment to the judge handling related Universal Music Publishing Group, Concord, and ABKCO cases against Anthropic.[2]

Significance

The BMG lawsuit is the latest in a series of copyright actions against Anthropic by music industry plaintiffs and follows the proposed $1.5 billion settlement with authors and publishers in the parallel Bartz v Anthropic PBC class action. Unlike the authors' settlement, BMG proceeds independently as a music publisher rather than joining the existing class action framework.

The case is also notable for its CMI removal claims under DMCA §1202, which extend beyond the standard copyright infringement claims in other AI training data cases and could establish new precedent if successful.

Related Cases

References

  1. ↑ Justia Docket: BMG Rights Management v. Anthropic PBC, No. 5:26-cv-02334 (N.D. Cal.)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Music Business Worldwide: BMG Sues Anthropic, Alleging AI Giant's "$380B Valuation Was Built On Stolen Copyrighted Works"
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Changeflow: BMG Rights Management Sues Anthropic PBC Over Copyright
  4. ↑ The Daily Record: BMG Sues Anthropic for Using Bruno Mars, Rolling Stones Lyrics in AI Training
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