A federal judge in San Jose signaled skepticism Wednesday toward music publishers accusing AI company Anthropic of mass copyright theft, potentially dealing a blow to one of the most closely watched tech liability cases in the country.
U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee initially indicated from the bench she would deny Anthropic’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. But after hearing the company’s arguments, she reversed course and ordered both sides to file additional briefs, suggesting the publishers may not have provided enough detail to proceed.
Judge Questions Vague Infringement Claims
The music publishers claim Anthropic copied more than 20,000 copyrighted songs through torrenting to train Claude, its AI chatbot. But Judge Lee appeared troubled by the lack of specifics about how those particular works were selected or copied.
“The heart of the issue is the inadequacy of the allegations,” Anthropic lead counsel Sonal Mehta told the court. She argued the publishers failed to explain why those 20,517 works were chosen as examples or provide concrete evidence of how the alleged copying occurred.
Mehta also pointed to what she called “enhanced guardrails” Anthropic built into Claude to prevent the system from reproducing copyrighted lyrics in responses to users. The publishers’ complaint, she said, ignored those protections entirely.
What Happens Next
The judge’s request for additional briefing leaves the case in limbo. If she ultimately grants Anthropic’s dismissal motion, it could set a precedent making it harder for content creators to sue AI companies for using their work in training data.
The stakes extend far beyond the music industry. Publishers, authors, artists and news organizations are watching closely to see whether courts will require detailed proof of copying or allow broader claims that AI companies scraped entire industries’ worth of copyrighted material without permission or payment.
Judge Lee gave no timeline for when she would rule after receiving the additional briefs.
Key Points
- Judge initially planned to let the case proceed but reversed after hearing Anthropic’s defense
- Publishers claim 20,517 songs were copied but provided few specifics about how or why
- Ruling could set precedent affecting copyright lawsuits across the AI industry
https://www.courthousenews.com/music-publishers-suffer-setback-in-copyright-case-against-anthropic/ – November 04, 2026
