Judge Eumi K. Lee dropped one claim against Anthropic's chief executive on Nov. 41. She left the company's bigger fight with the music industry standing2.
Concord Music Group, Universal Music Publishing Group and ABKCO sued Anthropic, Dario Amodei and co-founder Benjamin Mann on Jan. 281. The case, Concord II, carries docket number 5:26-cv-00880 in the Northern District of California's San Jose Division. BMG Rights Management filed a separate suit on March 17, docket number 5:26-cv-02334, before the same judge. Together, the two cases call more than 20,000 songs' lyrics in Claude's training data unlicensed4.
A reader tracking AI and music has seen this pattern before. Suno signed opt-in deals with Warner and BMG this year, then kept fighting four musicians who sued for the same terms6. Anthropic's fight with the music industry runs entirely through the courts, with every label deal still ahead of it.
One Dismissal Leaves the Rest Standing
Lee's ruling split the difference23. She dismissed the direct copyright claim against Amodei personally, and let the publishers try again. A separate claim, that Amodei and Mann encouraged the alleged copying, survives untouched1.
The judge set aside the bigger questions for later3. Does Claude generate infringing lyrics when a listener asks for an artist by name? She also deferred judgment on whether Anthropic stripped copyright notices from those songs. Both sides owe the court a status report by Nov. 11.
Nov. 11 matters more than the dismissal itself. A claim against one executive touches his own liability. Output and copyright-notice claims touch Anthropic's own balance sheet, song by song1.
Two Suits Against One Company
Anthropic has fought over song lyrics before4. Many of the same publishers sued on Oct. 18, 2023, over 499 songs17. That earlier case, Concord I, reached a fair-use hearing on Oct. 215. A ruling there is still pending.
Concord II and BMG Name 40 Times More Songs Than Concord I
Songs named in Anthropic's lyrics lawsuits, by case, as of Nov. 4, 2026
Each column counts the songs one lawsuit names: the 499 of the original Concord I suit, against the more than 20,000 Concord II and BMG count together.
Concord II and BMG's combined count is the complaints' own floor; both say the true number could run higher once discovery finishes.
Sources: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California [1]; Music Business Worldwide [4]. Chart by Ryan Elliott Dennis.
The numbers behind this chart
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Concord I (2023) | 499+ |
| Concord II + BMG | 20,000+ |
Concord II and BMG raise the stakes14. They add a claim Concord I skipped: that Anthropic and its founders personally torrented pirated books and lyrics to build Claude. Statutory damages alone could reach $150,000 for each song, plus $25,000 for every stripped copyright notice.
The court has already split the work in two1. Phase one covers the torrenting claim alone, the one aimed at Amodei and Mann by name. The second phase, covering Claude's own outputs and the copyright-notice claim, waits on the Concord I ruling before it starts.
BMG took a different path to the same courtroom1. It sued Anthropic alone, on March 17, over its own catalog. The case now moves on the same schedule as Concord II, in front of the judge still weighing Concord I5. BMG disclosed its own ownership to the court: the German media group Bertelsmann.
5 Dated Events Mark Anthropic's Lyrics Fight Since 2023
Dated events in Concord I, Concord II and BMG v. Anthropic, 2023 to Nov. 2026
Each pin marks one dated event in Anthropic's two lyrics cases: the first suit, the two follow-on suits, the Concord I hearing and the Concord II ruling.
Sources: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California [1]; Law360 [2]; techjacksolutions.com [5]; The AI Musicpreneur [7]. Chart by Ryan Elliott Dennis.
The numbers behind this chart
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Oct. 18, 2023 | Concord I filed. 499 songs |
| Jan. 28, 2026 | Concord II filed. Amodei, Mann named |
| March 17, 2026 | BMG sues separately |
| Oct. 21, 2026 | Concord I hearing. Ruling still pending |
| Nov. 4, 2026 | Amodei claim dismissed. Leave to amend |
Each Side Makes Its Case
Anthropic's defense rests on one word: transformative1. "The record and law leave no room for disagreement: training Claude with lyrics is an indisputably transformative use and Publishers have not demonstrated any cognizable market harm," the company told the court on Sept. 30. Concord Music Group and its co-plaintiffs disagreed in the same filing. "The Concord I record indisputably demonstrates that Anthropic committed mass infringement of the Concord I Plaintiffs' works during the AI training process and in Claude's outputs, and that such use is not fair," they wrote.
Three weeks later, both sides repeated their arguments out loud, at a hearing in the related Concord I case5. "There isn't anything in the record that shows doom for the music industry," Sonal Mehta, of WilmerHale, told Judge Lee for Anthropic. "It's not curing cancer, it's to create other lyrics. It couldn't do it if it didn't have the lyrics in the database," Matthew Oppenheim answered for the musicians.
Oppenheim's number is the one that should worry Anthropic more than any single ruling. He told Lee that Claude fielded close to 120,000 requests for "synthetic" lyrics over six months5. Volume, more than any single song, is the argument he is building toward trial.
What to Do
Songwriters and publishers weighing a suit of their own should watch the Nov. 11 status report3. It will show how far Lee lets the output and copyright-notice claims go. A publisher outside Concord II, UMPG, ABKCO or BMG can still join a related case1. The court has related four cases, Concord II and BMG included, to Concord I this year.
Musicians outside a label's catalog should read Suno's opt-in deals with Warner and BMG as one working template6. Anthropic's own path with musicians still runs through the courts1. A lawsuit like this one carries the weight a signed deal would carry elsewhere. It puts $150,000 on every song a platform used before anyone asked.
By the Numbers
- $3 billion: sought by Concord Music Group, Universal Music Publishing Group and ABKCO from Anthropic in Concord II1.
- More than 20,000: songs named across the Concord II and BMG complaints14.
- 499: songs at issue in the earlier Concord I case, still awaiting its own ruling5.
- Jan. 28, 2026: when the Concord II publishers sued Anthropic, Amodei and Mann1.
- March 17, 2026: when BMG filed a separate suit against Anthropic alone1.
- Close to 120,000: requests Claude fielded for "synthetic" lyrics over six months, by the publishers' count5.
- $150,000: top statutory damage per song if the publishers win1.
- Nov. 11, 2026: deadline Lee set for both sides to propose what comes next3.
What to Watch
The next test arrives fast. Lee wants the Nov. 11 status report before she rules on Claude's outputs or the copyright-notice claim3.
Concord I still looms over both newer cases. A ruling on whether training alone counts as fair use will shape how far Concord II and BMG can go5.
Discovery into the torrenting claim against Amodei and Mann keeps moving either way1. The court set that schedule before this ruling came down. Amodei's attorneys have left the amended complaint's timing open; the Nov. 11 status report is likely to set it too3.
Sources
- Counsel for the parties, "Joint Case Management Statement, Concord Music Group, Inc., et al. v. Anthropic PBC (No. 5:26-cv-00880) and BMG Rights Management (US) LLC v. Anthropic PBC (No. 5:26-cv-02334)," U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Sept. 30, 2026, https://chatgptiseatingtheworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Concord-Music-Group-Inc.-et-al-v.-Anthropic-PBC-et-al-Entry-133.pdf
- Dorothy Atkins, "Anthropic And CEO Beat Lyric Infringement Claims, For Now," Law360, Nov. 4, 2026, https://law360.com/technology/articles/2546375
- Amy Miller, "Anthropic CEO Wins Copyright Reprieve As US Judge Doubts Music Publishers' Claims," MLex, Nov. 5, 2026, https://www.mlex.com/mlex/intellectual-property/articles/2546544
- Mandy Dalugdug, "Anthropic Seeks Partial Dismissal in Music Publishers' $3B Lyrics Suit as CEO Moves to Drop the Direct Infringement Claim Against Him," Music Business Worldwide, Aug. 6, 2026, https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/anthropic-seeks-partial-dismissal-in-music-publishers-3b-lyrics-suit-as-ceo-moves-to-drop-the-direct-infringement-claim-against-him/
- techjacksolutions.com Staff, "Concord v. Anthropic Summary Judgment: AI Copyright Hearing," techjacksolutions.com, Oct. 22, 2026, https://techjacksolutions.com/ai-brief/concord-anthropic-summary-judgment-lyric-copyright-hearing/
- MusicTech Staff, "Suno forms 'global alliance' with BMG giving musicians 'real choice' over AI use," MusicTech, Aug. 13, 2026, https://musictech.com/news/industry/suno-alliance-bmg-ai-choice-artists/
- Christopher Wieduwilt, "Concord v. Anthropic: Status & Timeline," The AI Musicpreneur, Oct. 21, 2026, https://www.aimusicpreneur.com/knowledge-base/legal/concord-anthropic-copyright-case/
