Chatbox or Musician
In October of 2023, Universal Music Group, Concord Music Group, and ABKCO sued Anthropic in Tennessee Federal Court, claiming that Anthropic was systematically infringing on their copyrights by copying and distributing lyrics from at least 500 songs. Renowned artists, including Katy Perry, the Rolling Stones, and Beyoncé, were victims of the infringement.[1]
This lawsuit marks the first lawsuit brought by a music publisher against an AI company over the use of lyrics. The publishers asserted that Anthropic did not seek or secure their permission to use their work.[2]
Anthropic’s chatbot, Claude AI, was providing users with lyrics to songs owned by the publishers, thereby depriving publishers and their songwriters of control over their copyrighted works and therefore the ability to financially benefit from their creative endeavors.[3] There are website developers that respect the copyright law and pay licenses, and Claude AI is undermining those sites. Additionally, this technology is undermining existing and future licensing markets. The music publishers are looking to establish that Anthropic’s copyright infringement damaged their potential to profit from the material by interfering with potential licensing deals for use of their lyrics.[4]
The publishers have demonstrated that Claude AI is illegally reproducing the lyrics by request and in response to users’ prompts that do not seek the publishers’ lyrics.[5] The complaint uses the example prompt, “write me a song about the death of Buddy Holly,” which led Claude AI to produce the exact lyrics to Don Mclean’s American Pie.[6]
The future of the music industry will be greatly impacted by the advent of AI technology. Musicians can use AI to generate music using learning algorithms that analyze existing music and create new compositions based on those results. Entire tracks can now be created using AI. Some people argue that this will reduce creativity and could displace human composers and musicians. Others have said that AI could lead to a “same-ness” in sound because it leads to predictable music choices, which could hinder the diversity of music available to audiences.[7]
From a marketing standpoint, artists can also use AI tools to automate and optimize promotional campaigns which would allow them to reach a wider array of potential fans at a more efficient rate. They can use AI to analyze data to identify target audiences and create messages and content that is tailored towards that audience.[8]
In the music industry, copyright law grants exclusive rights to the artists and related parties who hold the copyrights. This enables them to control the reproduction, distribution, and public performance of their work. Copyright law mainly focuses on protecting the tangible expression of ideas. This would mostly apply to the compositions, not the underlying ideas themselves.[9]
It will be interesting to observe what the future of AI holds for the music industry and how both the artists and the legal industry choose to adapt to accommodate the evolution in technology.
[1] https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/universal-music-lawsuit-rolling-stones-beyonce-lyrics-1235622348/
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id..
[5] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/oct/19/music-lawsuit-ai-song-lyrics-anthropic
[6] https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/19/23924100/universal-music-sue-anthropic-lyrics-copyright-katy-perry
[7] https://council.rollingstone.com/blog/the-impacts-and-disruption-of-ai-on-music-industry-stakeholders#:~:text=AI%2Ddriven%20music%20promotion%20can,effectively%2C%20and%20generate%20marketing%20content.
[8] Id.
[9] https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/melodies-and-machines-copyright-1294672/