# Judge hears fair-use arguments in Concord Music v. Anthropic

Published: 2026-10-22T09:38:02.825Z · Source: Courthouse News Service (https://www.courthousenews.com/music-labels-clash-with-claude-over-copyrighted-lyrics/)
Source date: 2026-10-21
Flags: single-source — confirmation pending
Entities: anthropic, ai-litigation

Judge Eumi Lee heard cross-motions for summary judgment Oct. 21 in Concord Music Group v. Anthropic, the music publishers' suit over Claude's training on copyrighted lyrics, per Courthouse News Service. Publishers' attorney Matthew Oppenheim argued Claude reproduces lyrics "sometimes verbatim" and that generating stylistically similar "synthetic" songs competes with human songwriters; Anthropic's attorney Sonal Mehta countered that users, not Anthropic, bear responsibility for prompts, and that such outputs are independently copyrightable. Lee did not rule from the bench. The wire flagged the hearing date Sept. 16; it is the first district judge to hear fair-use summary judgment arguments in an AI-training case since the Bartz and Kadrey rulings, more than a year and a half ago.

Why it matters: It is the first district judge to hear fair-use summary judgment arguments over AI training since the Bartz and Kadrey rulings against Anthropic and Meta, over a year and a half ago — an early read on how courts will weigh song lyrics against the books and code at issue in those earlier cases.

## What this answers

**Has a judge ruled on whether training AI on song lyrics is fair use?**

Not yet — Judge Eumi Lee heard summary judgment arguments in Concord Music v. Anthropic I on Oct. 21, 2026 but had not ruled, per Courthouse News Service.


Canonical: https://anythingengineoptimization.com/item/2026-10-22-judge-hears-fair-use-arguments-in-concord-music-v-anthropic/
From Anything Engine Optimization (AEO Wire) — https://anythingengineoptimization.com/ · Standards: https://anythingengineoptimization.com/standards/