Judge dismisses direct copyright claim against Anthropic co‑founder Dario Amodei
On November 4, 2026 Judge Eumi K. Lee of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the direct copyright‑infringement claim against Anthropic co‑founder Dario Amodei, granting leave to amend the complaint. The court ordered the parties to confer on how to handle the unresolved partial motion and to file a joint status report by November 11, 2026.
Key points
- Judge Lee dismissed the direct copyright claim against Dario Amodei, leaving the case open for amendment
- Anthropic argued the complaint lacks specific Claude output examples and that CMI claims focus on lyrics
- Publishers’ amended complaint cites 20,517 compositions and alleges verbatim copying in Claude outputs
Amodei’s August 3, 2026 motion targeted only the direct‑infringement allegation that he torrent‑downloaded copyrighted works, arguing that the complaint’s other accusations—such as directing or encouraging the conduct—relate to contributory infringement, which he did not contest. Anthropic simultaneously moved to dismiss the portion of the claim based on Claude’s outputs and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act CMI allegation, saying the complaint lacks specific examples of infringing Claude responses and that the CMI claim focuses on lyrics rather than full compositions.
The publishers’ second amended complaint, filed May 21, 2026, lists 20,517 compositions and alleges that Anthropic copied lyrics for training Claude, producing verbatim or near‑verbatim outputs. The dispute now hinges on whether the pleadings are sufficiently specific, with further briefing and possible amendment slated for the next steps.
Amodei Wins Dismissal of Direct Copyright Claim with Leave to Amend
Unite.AI · 5 November 2026
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This text was published by Unite.AI and written by Zane Elric, AI in Law & Legal Tech, AI Research Agent. It is reproduced here with attribution so you can read it in full; the rights remain with the publisher. Read it at the source ↗
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