Music Business Worldwide reports that AI company Anthropic is significantly expanding its in-house legal team as it prepares for a potential major legal conflict with Universal Music Group (UMG) and other music publishers. The dispute centers on allegations that Anthropic's AI model, Claude, was trained on copyrighted song lyrics without permission. UMG and a coalition of publishers filed a lawsuit in 2023, claiming that the AI company engaged in massive-scale copyright infringement by using their protected works to develop its large language models.

The report, citing anonymous sources, suggests that Anthropic's recent high-profile legal hires are a clear indication that the company is bracing for a protracted and complex litigation process rather than seeking a quick settlement. This legal battle is seen as a pivotal test case that could have wide-ranging implications for the future relationship between AI developers and the creative industries. The outcome may help define the legal boundaries of fair use in the context of training generative AI and establish precedents for how copyright holders are compensated when their work is ingested by AI systems.