Judge approves Anthropic's $1.5 billion copyright settlement for pirated books used in AI training
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Judge approves Anthropic's $1.5 billion copyright settlement with authors
On Monday, a judge approved a $1.5 billion settlement between Anthropic and authors, ending the largest copyright class-action ever certified and granting the largest copyright settlement ever reached. Back in May, some authors fought to block the settlement, which was proposed after the court
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Anthropic's landmark $1.5B copyright settlement is approved
Anthropic can finally start cutting checks to a group of authors and book publishers that sued the AI lab over copyright infringement. A federal judge gave final approval Monday of Anthropic's landmark $1.5 billion settlement of a class action copyright lawsuit, Reuters reported. Judge William
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Anthropic's $1.5 billion book piracy settlement approved by judge
A federal judge has signed off on Anthropic's $1.5 billion class action settlement with authors who accused the company of training its AI models on copyrighted books, as reported earlier by Reuters. In an order on Monday, Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín writes that the settlement will provide
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Anthropic slapped with $1.5 billion settlement in copyright lawsuit, largest payout ever -- court says that training AI on books, other publications is 'fair use,' but ruled that the startup's 7-million-book pirated library infringes authors' rights
Anthropic pays authors and publishers for pirating millions of books. A U.S. federal judge granted the final approval of Anthropic's $1.5-billion settlement over the class action lawsuit authors filed against it for infringing their rights. According to Reuters, while the court ruled that training
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Judge Approves Anthropic's $1.5 Billion Copyright Settlement for Authors
(Credit: Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) A federal judge has approved Anthropic's record $1.5 billion settlement for an AI copyright lawsuit brought by a group of authors who claimed the company trained its AI models on pirated copies of their copyrighted works. Anthropic
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In landmark Anthropic settlement, judge rejects 'windfall' for lawyers
WASHINGTON, July 21 (Reuters) - A federal judge overseeing the $1.5 billion copyright settlement between Anthropic and authors sharply reduced the plaintiffs' legal fee request, rejecting a percentage-based award that she said would produce a "windfall" for the lawyers and divert tens of millions
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Anthropic's landmark $1.5 billion copyright settlement with authors wins final court approval
Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. What just happened? Anthropic's landmark $1.5 billion copyright settlement with authors and publishers has received final court approval, clearing the way for payments in what is believed to be the
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The AI Copyright Lawsuits Have Finally Produced an Actual Payout
After AI hit the scene a few years ago, writers like George R.R. Martin and Ta-Nehisi Coates, as well as media companies like The New York Times and Disney, quickly sued AI companies, accusing them of stealing their work to train their models. There have been dozens of lawsuits filed, and even
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US judge approves Anthropic's $1.5 billion settlement of copyright lawsuit
July 20 (Reuters) - A federal judge in San Francisco on Monday signed off on artificial intelligence company Anthropic's landmark $1.5 billion settlement of a class action lawsuit brought by a group of authors who accused it of misusing their books to train its AI chatbot Claude. U.S. District
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Authors have mixed feelings about the $1.5B Anthropic copyright infringement ruling
AI company Anthropic will pay $1.5 billion dollars to hundreds of thousands of authors in a landmark copyright infringement settlement. But some authors have mixed feelings about the outcome. RICCARDO MILANI/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images/AFP hide caption Charles Graeber said he has some positive
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Anthropic ordered to pay largest copyright class action settlement in history
Credit: Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images A federal judge in San Francisco has granted final approval to a $1.5 billion settlement between Anthropic and a class of authors who accused the AI company of illegally downloading their copyrighted books, closing out what the court
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Anthropic to pay authors $1.5 billion over pirated books used to train Claude in first major AI copyright settlement | Fortune
A federal judge has approved a $1.5 billion copyright settlement in which artificial intelligence company Anthropic will pay thousands of authors about $3,000 per book after using pirated copies of their works to train its Claude chatbot. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín said in a Monday
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US judge closes the book on first big AI copyright suit, ordering Anthropic to pay $1.5 billion settlement
One reason I'm so anti-generative AI is because many models rely on a data set containing written or visual work used without the original creator's permission. As a writer myself, it's a small comfort then that the copyright suit brought against Anthropic has been settled in favour of the author
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Anthropic to pay €1.3bn in biggest copyright settlement on record
A US judge has approved Anthropic's payout to authors whose pirated books trained its Claude chatbot, closing the first major settlement in a wave of copyright lawsuits against AI companies. A US federal judge has approved a $1.5 billion (€1.3bn) settlement between Anthropic and a group of
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Anthropic AI copyright lawsuit: Update as judge approves massive settlement and payout for authors
Anthropic will finally have to pay authors for pirating their books. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín approved a $1.5 billion AI copyright settlement. The payout is believed to be the largest ever for a U.S. copyright suit. Companies like Facebook parent Meta Platforms and
[16]
Anthropic settles with authors and publishers for $1.5 billion in landmark copyright case
A federal judge today approved a $1.5 billion settlement awarded to authors and publishers whose works were used by Anthropic PBC to train the AI chatbot, Claude, in what is the largest copyright class action settlement in history. Judge William Alsup issued a preliminary approval of the
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Anthropic ordered to pay $1.5 billion to authors in landmark AI copyright case
A California judge has approved Anthropic's $1.5 billion copyright settlement with authors, marking the largest copyright payout in U.S. history and a case that will likely be used as a precedent in future copyright cases involving AI. The settlement resolves a class-action lawsuit over Anthropic's
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Judge approves Anthropic's $1.5B copyright settlement
Anthropic's $1.5 billion settlement for an AI copyright lawsuit has been approved by a federal judge in San Francisco. The lawsuit was filed by a group of writers in 2024, accusing Anthropic of using pirated copies of their work to train its Claude large language models. William Alsup, the
[19]
Judge Approves a $1.5B Anthropic Settlement Over Pirated Books Used to Train the Claude Chatbot
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A federal judge has approved a $1.5 billion copyright settlement in which artificial intelligence company Anthropic will pay thousands of authors about $3,000 per book after using pirated copies of their works to train its Claude chatbot. District Judge Araceli
[20]
US judge approves Anthropic's $1.5 billion settlement of copyright lawsuit
A federal judge in San Francisco on Monday (July 20) signed off on artificial intelligence company Anthropic's landmark $1.5 billion settlement of a class action lawsuit brought by a group of authors who accused it of misusing their books to train its AI chatbot Claude. U.S. District Judge Araceli
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Anthropic to pay $1.5 billion after misusing books to train AI chatbot
A US judge has approved the settlement, which was reached last September. Following a class-action lawsuit brought about by disgruntled authors and publishers around the misuse of copyrighted books by Anthropic, the company will pay $1.5 billion in a settlement. The settlement was agreed first
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Anthropic settlement: US judge approves Anthropic's $1.5 billion settlement of copyright lawsuit
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin granted final approval of the settlement, the largest known settlement of a U.S. copyright case, rejecting arguments that it was too small. A federal judge in San Francisco on Monday signed off on artificial intelligence company Anthropic's landmark $1.5
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Anthropic's Historic $1.5 Billion Copyright Settlement Gets Judge's OK | PYMNTS.com
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin approved the settlement, believed to be the largest such award in a copyright case in the United States, the report said. A class action lawsuit had been brought by a group of authors who accused Anthropic of improperly using their works to train its
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US judge approves Anthropic's $1.5 bil. settlement of copyright lawsuit - The Korea Times
Pages from the Anthropic website and the company's logo are displayed on a computer screen in New York, Feb. 26. AP-Yonhap A federal judge in San Francisco on Monday signed off on artificial intelligence company Anthropic's landmark $1.5 billion settlement of a class action lawsuit brought by a
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Judge approves a US$1.5B Anthropic settlement over pirated books used to train the Claude chatbot
SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge has approved a US$1.5 billion copyright settlement in which artificial intelligence company Anthropic will pay thousands of authors about US$3,000 per book after using pirated copies of their works to train its Claude chatbot. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín
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Judge approves Anthropic's $1.5B settlement of authors' AI copyright lawsuit -- first major case to settle
A federal judge in San Francisco on Monday signed off on artificial intelligence company Anthropic's landmark $1.5 billion settlement of a class action lawsuit brought by a group of authors who accused it of misusing their books to train its AI chatbot Claude. District Judge Araceli
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A federal judge has approved Anthropic's record-breaking $1.5 billion copyright settlement with authors who accused the AI company of training models on pirated books. The settlement delivers roughly $3,000 per work across an estimated 500,000 copyrighted titles. While the ruling affirmed that AI training on legally obtained books counts as fair use, it found Anthropic's use of pirate sites to download millions of works violated copyright law.
Anthropic Reaches Largest Copyright Settlement in US History
A federal judge has granted final approval to Anthropic's $1.5 billion copyright settlement with authors and publishers, marking the largest copyright settlement ever reached in US history
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. US District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín approved the settlement on Monday, bringing closure to the largest copyright class-action lawsuit ever certified against an AI company2
. The settlement covers approximately 500,000 copyrighted works, with authors and publishers receiving an estimated $3,000 per work—four times the minimum statutory damages1
.
Source: Ars Technica
The class-action lawsuit was originally filed in 2024 by three authors—Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson—who accused Anthropic of copyright infringement claims related to training AI models on copyrighted books without permission
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. The case gained significant traction when Judge William Alsup issued a pivotal ruling that established AI training on legally obtained books as fair use under copyright law4
. However, the court found that Anthropic's unauthorized downloading of millions of pirated books from sites like Library Genesis and Pirate Library Mirror violated authors' rights2
.High Participation Rate Among Authors and Publishers
The settlement saw overwhelming support from the creative community, with approximately 91 percent of authors and publishers covered by the agreement filing claims before the March 30 deadline
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. Judge Martínez-Olguín noted that about 95 percent of the class received notifications, and only 350 class members opted out of the settlement1
. Another 54 attempted to object or filed late opt-out requests, but the judge overruled these objections as lacking merit. The high participation rate suggested that most rightsholders viewed the distribution plan as fair and supported the resolution1
.Anthropicdeputy general counsel Aparna Sridhar expressed satisfaction with the outcome, stating that the company is pleased more than 91 percent of covered parties have claimed their share and looks forward to closing the matter
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. The lead plaintiffs' attorney, Justin Nelson, celebrated the approval as the largest known copyright recovery in history5
.
Source: ET
Legal Fees Reduced and Claims Process Safeguards
While approving the total settlement amount, Judge Martínez-Olguín made significant cuts to legal fees and plaintiff awards. Lawyers originally requested $300 million—20 percent of the settlement—but later reduced their request to approximately $187 million, or 12.5 percent
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. The judge ruled even this reduced percentage was too high, cutting legal fees down to less than 7 percent of the settlement fund, totaling about $101 million. To protect class interests, the court will require lawyers to file a post-distribution accounting once payouts are finalized, with the possibility of further fee reductions if actual work performed is less than projected1
.The three lead plaintiffs also saw their requested service awards reduced from $50,000 to $15,000 each, with the judge deeming the higher amount unreasonable despite their substantial time and resource commitments
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. If funds remain after all valid claims are paid, the parties anticipate redistributing remaining amounts to settlement class members unless economically infeasible1
.Related Stories
Implications for AI and Copyright Law Landscape
The settlement's approval carries mixed implications for the broader debate surrounding AI and copyright law. While Anthropic agreed to pay for its Napster-style downloading of millions of works from pirate sites, the underlying fair use ruling remains intact
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. This creates a complex legal precedent: AI companies can train models on copyrighted material they obtain legally, but face liability for using pirated books as training sources4
.However, because Anthropic settled rather than appealing, Judge Alsup's district court decision won't become binding precedent across other jurisdictions
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. Other judges remain free to reach different conclusions on similar cases. This reality is playing out in ongoing copyright infringement claims against tech giants including OpenAI, Meta, Google, and Nvidia2
. Just last week, publishers including Hachette, Cengage, and Elsevier, along with author Scott Turow, filed a class-action lawsuit against Google over accusations the company used copyrighted works to train its Gemini AI platform2
.
Source: Korea Times
Some authors remain dissatisfied with the $3,000-per-work payout, with groups like Chicken Soup for the Soul and several other authors continuing separate legal challenges, arguing the amount fails to adequately compensate for copyright violations
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. The settlement puts AI companies on notice that shortcuts around copyright law carry financial consequences, even as the core question of whether AI training constitutes fair use continues to evolve through ongoing litigation across multiple courts.References
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