Publishers Push to Consolidate Anthropic Lawsuits, Impala Urges Indie Protections, and Royalty Dispute Emerges Over Charlie Puth Track - How The Music Business Works
How The Music Business Works - Issue #47
February 5, 2026
Welcome back to How The Music Business Works.
This week, AI and enforcement dominate the conversation, with streaming platforms revealing the scale of fraud and stepping up penalties, while rights holders press forward with high-stakes legal action.
At the same time, industry groups in Europe are calling for stronger protections around an independent and culturally diverse European music ecosystem, and a new lawsuit over a global hit reignites familiar questions around credits, rights, and who gets paid.
On to the details.
Court Considers Consolidating Concord v. Anthropic Infringement Lawsuits
Universal Music and Concord are asking a federal judge to consider consolidating their two major copyright lawsuits against Anthropic, which together seek more than $3 billion in damages. The cases accuse Anthropic of infringing nearly 500 songs in a 2023 lawsuit and around 21,000 works in a newer complaint, covering alleged misuse during AI training, outputs, and large scale piracy. While the publishers say the cases share overlapping legal issues and discovery, they also involve different time periods and claims, including allegations that Anthropic illegally downloaded books containing sheet music and lyrics, and possibly even music and films with protected audio. The earlier case is still moving through procedural disputes, including a deposition issue involving Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, while the newer lawsuit puts piracy claims front and center following mixed recent AI copyright rulings.
Impala Report Sets Out Goals for European Indies Ecosystem
Impala has published a new policy report calling for stronger protections and support for an independent and culturally diverse European music ecosystem, going well beyond its opposition to Universal Music Group’s proposed acquisition of Downtown Music. The report sets out six recommendations for European policymakers, including broader financing options for independent companies and artists, fair access to markets and infrastructure, protection of collective negotiation rights, and placing cultural diversity at the center of streaming and AI regulation. It also calls for formal monitoring of diversity across the sector and clearer industry standards, including tighter rules around who can legitimately use the label “independent,” with transparent ownership disclosure to prevent misuse by major-owned distributors.
Deezer says it is now receiving more than 60,000 fully AI-generated tracks every day, accounting for about 39% of all daily uploads, and has begun licensing its AI detection technology to the wider music industry. Since launching the tool in January 2025, Deezer has identified and tagged over 13.4 million AI-generated tracks and has already tested the system with partners including Sacem. The platform reports that up to 85% of streams on AI-generated music in 2025 were fraudulent, compared to 8% fraud across its full catalog, with all fraudulent streams removed from the royalty pool. Deezer says it is the only streaming service to explicitly tag AI music and exclude it from recommendations and playlists, and claims its tool can reliably detect content from models such as Suno and Udio. The move comes amid broader concerns highlighted by CISAC that AI could put a significant share of creator revenues at risk by 2028.
Apple Music Says It Flagged Roughly Two Billion Fake Streams During 2025
Apple Music says it identified and demonetized around 2 billion fraudulent streams in 2025, offering one of the clearest signals yet of the scale of streaming fraud linked to the rise of AI-generated content. The figure was disclosed by Apple’s VP Oliver Schusser in a recent interview, noting that while not all fraud stems from AI music, synthetic tracks are particularly effective at gaming streaming systems. Apple has also tightened enforcement, doubling financial penalties for fraudsters from 5–25% to 10–50% of affected royalties, a move Schusser partly attributed to the surge in AI audio uploads. While the tougher stance is aimed at deterrence, it has also raised questions about whether fines alone are sufficient, or if repeat and large-scale offenders should face outright bans.
Musician Sues Warner Over Charlie Puth’s ‘See You Again’
Jake Broido, a musician who provided backing vocals on See You Again by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth, has filed a lawsuit against Warner Music Group and Universal Pictures, alleging he was denied rightful credit and royalties for his contribution to the song, which featured prominently in Furious 7. According to the complaint, Broido was invited into the studio by Puth while working in Warner’s offices and contributed both creatively and vocally to the track, including backing vocals used in the film’s emotional closing scene. He says he was never asked to sign a work-for-hire agreement, meaning the companies cannot automatically claim ownership of his contributions. Despite this, Broido alleges he received no songwriter credit, no performance royalties, and was omitted from the film’s credits, while Warner allegedly misrepresented his role when reporting contributors. He is asking the court to recognize his share of the song’s publishing rights and to award damages for breach of duty, fraudulent concealment, and related claims.