Music publisher Reservoir has filed two copyright lawsuits, one against AI song generator Suno and one against Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot. It alleges both firms used its songs without permission to train their AI. The cases were filed on October 21 in federal court in Northern California, and together they point to nearly $340 million in potential damages, Law Commentary reports.
What the lawsuits claim
Reservoir owns publishing rights, which means the rights to the songwriting itself (the melody and lyrics), not to a particular recording. The suits name famous works including Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach,” Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” and Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now.”
- Suno: Reservoir alleges Suno copied 1,050 of its compositions from online platforms, including YouTube Music, to train a paid service that creates full songs from a text prompt. It says Suno avoided paying for licences and now produces music that competes with the original songwriters.
- Anthropic: Reservoir alleges Anthropic took lyrics from 853 compositions without permission to train Claude, and that the chatbot can reproduce large parts of those lyrics when asked.
Both suits also make claims under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a US law that, among other things, bans getting around anti-copying protections and stripping out information such as songwriter credits.
Where the $340 million figure comes from
US copyright law lets rights holders seek “statutory damages,” a set amount per work, which can be high when infringement is found to be wilful. Reservoir’s numbers, about $186 million against Suno and about $151 million against Anthropic, assume the maximum per song. Law Commentary points out that Reservoir would first have to prove the companies are liable, and then convince the court to award the top amount. The suits also ask the court to stop further use and to order unauthorised copies destroyed.
How the companies responded
Anthropic disputes the allegations and says it will defend itself vigorously. Law Commentary did not report a direct response from Suno, which has argued in other cases that training AI on copyrighted material can count as “fair use,” the legal doctrine that allows some unlicensed use of protected work.
Reservoir also points to Suno’s licensing deals with Warner Music Group, BMG and Believe as proof that a market for licensing songs to AI firms already exists. That matters because courts weigh whether unlicensed use hurts an existing market when deciding fair use.
A crowded legal fight
These suits join a long list of music cases against AI companies. On the same day they were filed, Anthropic and several major publishers argued a separate lyrics case before a judge, who heard arguments on fair use and the effect on licensing but did not issue a ruling. Suno is also fighting a case brought by Universal and Sony.
What it means for you
If you use Suno to make songs or ask Claude about lyrics, nothing changes right now. Both services keep running while the cases go on, which could take years.
The bigger picture is that courts are slowly deciding whether AI companies must pay for the creative work they learn from. If publishers keep winning licensing deals or court victories, AI music and chat tools could become more restricted in what they reproduce, or more expensive to run. If you publish AI-generated songs yourself, be careful: a track that closely copies an existing song can still land you in trouble, whoever made the tool.
Sources
- Suno and Anthropic Face Nearly $340 Million in Copyright Claims Over Songs by Madonna, Johnny Cash — Law Commentary
- Reservoir sues Suno and Anthropic for infringing songs by Joni Mitchell, Johnny Cash, Madonna and more — Music Business Worldwide
- Reservoir hits Suno and Anthropic with copyright infringement lawsuits — Music Ally