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The owners of Elvis Presley’s music have sued AI company Anthropic, claiming it used 274 of his songs without permission to train its Claude models. Authentic Brands Group, which owns the rights to Presley, filed the case on Friday, October 23, 2026, along with other companies that hold Elvis rights.
The suit says Anthropic used his lyrics and compositions without a license or payment. It also says Claude can create copies of his songs. The plaintiffs want the alleged copying to stop and want to be paid for the use. The case marks a new chapter in the music industry’s fight over AI training.
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The complaint lists 274 songs, including “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” “A Little Less Conversation” and “Don’t Be Cruel.” It asks for USD 150,000 per song, which adds up to USD 41.1 million. Lead attorney Richard Busch said the plaintiffs are “deeply protective of these iconic songs.”
The filing also claims Claude kept producing close copies of Elvis songs after Anthropic added safety guardrails.
In one example, the chatbot was asked to recreate songs for a modern audience and returned versions with the same structure and hooks. Anthropic responded with a short statement: “We disagree with the claims and intend to defend this case fully.”
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Music companies have been challenging Anthropic for three years. In October 2023, Universal Music Publishing Group, Concord and ABKCO sued over song lyrics, and BMG has also filed similar claims. In 2025, a federal judge declined to issue an order that would halt Anthropic’s use of lyrics for training, noting that the fair use question is still unsettled.
Round Hill sued Suno and Anthropic in August, and Reservoir Media has filed a similar suit. Billboard calls the Elvis case the most high-profile one so far on behalf of a single artist. The outcome could shape how courts treat AI training on music.
