Elvis Presley catalog owners sue Anthropic for copyright infringement

Rightsholders of Elvis Presley's music catalog filed a $41 million lawsuit against artificial intelligence company Anthropic on October 23, 2026. Pitchfork, NME, and Rolling Stone reported that a subsidiary of Tennessee-based Authentic Brands Group, which controls Presley's intellectual property, launched the legal action. The lawsuit accuses Anthropic of using 274 songs by the artist to train its flagship AI model, Claude, without authorization. [1][3][4]

Pitchfork, NME, and Rolling Stone each noted that the lawsuit seeks roughly $150,000 in damages per song. Rolling Stone reported that Billboard was first to report on the lawsuit. Pitchfork stated that the specific tracks alleged to have been used include Can't Help Falling in Love, Don't Be Cruel, Farther Along, If You Think I Don't Need You, and Run On. [1][3][4]

In a statement included in the filing, a lawyer for the plaintiffs stated that the owners are deeply protective of the iconic songs. Authentic Brands Group filed the case alongside multiple co-plaintiffs who share ownership over Presley's rights, according to Pitchfork. [1][4]

Presley was an American singer and actor who is widely regarded as one of the most culturally significant figures of the 20th century. San Francisco-based Anthropic is an artificial intelligence corporation that develops the Claude language model series. [9][10]