Reservoir Sues Suno, Anthropic Over AI Music

Reservoir sued Suno and Anthropic, saying they stole Madonna and Johnny Cash songs to train music models. The lawsuits, filed on Wednesday, Oct. 21, allege the labs built a business model on widespread copyright theft. Suno allegedly copied millions of copyrighted works, including Reservoir's, and launched a $10-per-month platform. Anthropic faces similar claims, with the lawsuit citing iconic tracks like "Big Yellow Taxi," "Ring of Fire," and "Papa Don't Preach." Reservoir's attorney Richard Busch says the labs' platform was never meant to help artists, but to replace them. Suno has previously settled with Warner, BMG and Believe, yet still faces lawsuits from Universal and Sony. The case adds to a wave of litigation over AI training data that could cost the industry billions. If the courts side with Reservoir, AI music firms may need to rethink how they source songs.