3 Count: Icy and Spicy

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1: Anthropic Fires Back at Music Publishers’ AI Copyright Lawsuit

First off today, Blake Brittain at Reuters reports that the artificial intelligence company Anthropic has fired back in a lawsuit filed by music publishers over the company’s use of song lyrics to train their AI system.

The music publishers filed the lawsuit back in October, alleging that Anthropic unlawfully used song lyrics that they control to train their AI system, Claude, and that the system could, with prompting, reproduce those lyrics verbatim. As such, they alleged Anthropic had committed copyright infringement and were seeking an injunction against the company

However, Anthropic is hoping to get the injunction denied and the case set aside for multiple reasons. First, they argue that the publishers failed to prove that they would suffer any irreparable harm, a requirement of an injunction. Second, they allege that the case was filed in the wrong court. Finally, they alleged that their use of the lyrics is covered by fair use. The publishers say that they are confident in their case and expect that Anthropic’s motion will not succeed.

2: Copyright Parody Exception Denied Due to Defendant’s Discriminatory Use

Next up today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that, in Finland, a copyright infringement defendant has had their fair use argument dismissed because the claimed parody they created was racist and demeaning.

The case was filed by Finland’s national public broadcaster, Yleisradio Oy, who claimed that local politician Junes Lokka infringed their copyright by taking a news broadcast that they aired in the Somali language and overlaying it with new subtitles for a video shared on X (formerly Twitter).

Lokka attempted to argue that his use was a parody and, thus, a protected fair use. However, both a lower court and now the nation’s Supreme Court have ruled that it cannot be considered a parody due to its “discriminatory message” and referred to guidelines from the EU when handing down the decision.

3: Ice Spice Sued for Alleged Copyright Infringement Over “In Ha Mood”

Finally today, Alex Ocho at Complex reports that musician Ice Spice and her producer are being sued by fellow rapper D.Chamberz who claims that Ice Spice’s 2023 song In Ha Mood, is an infringement of his 2022 single In That Mood.

According to the lawsuit, either Icy Spice or her producer discovered the song either through performances of it in the New York City or airplay that it received in the city. As such, he is seeking half of the song’s publishing rights in addition to other damages.

Though Ice Spice released her song last year on YouTube and other platforms, her debut album is expected to come out some time this year. She is also scheduled to perform at Coachella in April.

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