Reservoir sued Suno over 1,050 songs and Anthropic over 853 works, with claims near $340 million
The music publisher says its songs and lyrics trained AI without permission; Anthropic says it will defend the case, and no court has ruled.
In brief
Two AI firms face a $340 million music suit
Publisher Reservoir sued Suno over 1,050 songs and Anthropic over 853 works. The figures are maximum claims. Anthropic says it will defend; no court has ruled.
Music publisher Reservoir Media Management has sued two AI companies, Suno and Anthropic, accusing them of using its songs to train their systems without permission. The two federal suits were filed on October 21, 2026, in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. The reporting comes from Music Business Worldwide, Billboard and other outlets that obtained the complaints.
The numbers
- Suno: 1,050 compositions.
- Anthropic: 853 works, with the claim that lyrics were used to train Claude.
- Combined: nearly $340 million, according to Digital Music News and CelebrityAccess.
The plaintiffs are Reservoir Media Management, its UK unit, and Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. This is a publisher, not individual artists.
Where the sources differ
The split of the money is reported differently. Music Business Worldwide says the Suno complaint pleads $157.5 million for copyright plus DMCA counts of $2.625 million and $26.25 million, just over $186 million. AI Chat Daily and PPC Land also put Suno near $186 million. CelebrityAccess instead gives roughly $28.9 million in DMCA damages for Suno.
For Anthropic, AI Chat Daily says about $151.4 million and CelebrityAccess says $151.5 million. Digital Music News breaks it into $127.95 million for copyright and $23.5 million for DMCA claims.
What the songs are
Named works include Madonna's Papa Don't Preach, Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire and Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now. Billboard also lists Big Yellow Taxi, while Music Business Worldwide mentions Evanescence's Bring Me to Life.
The DMCA is a US law. Here the counts cover alleged circumvention of access controls and removal of copyright information.
Why it matters
Imagine a model that learned from a songbook you own. If it can then write songs on demand, who should get paid? That question sits behind this case. Reservoir argues that Suno's own licensing deals with Warner Music, BMG and Believe show a real market for training data, according to Digital Music News.
AI companies often argue that training is fair use, meaning a legal exception for transformative use. Billboard notes that this is unresolved.
What happens next
The dollar figures are the maximum statutory amounts. Reservoir also seeks actual damages or profits, and destruction of copies, including in model weights, the numbers a model stores after training. Reservoir's CEO, Golnar Khosrowshahi, said the company will hold AI platforms legally accountable.
Anthropic told Billboard it disagrees and intends to defend the case vigorously. Billboard says Suno declined to comment, while AI Chat Daily says it had not responded.
Nothing has been decided by a court. The figures are claims, not findings. The filings themselves were not available for this story, and the CEO's statement comes only as quoted by media.
Sources
- Suno and Anthropic sued by Reservoir over songs by Joni Mitchell, Johnny Cash and Madonna (musicbusinessworldwide.com)
- Reservoir Sues Suno & Anthropic in Latest Lawsuits Over AI Music: ‘Meant to Replace the Artists’ (billboard.com)
- Reservoir Files Copyright, DMCA Suits Against Suno and Anthropic (digitalmusicnews.com)