- Anthropic's $1.5 billion settlement in a copyright class action lawsuit has been approved by a U.S. federal judge in San Francisco.
- The settlement is related to Anthropic using copyrighted works of authors to train its AI model.
- More than 91% of authors and publishers covered by the settlement have claimed their share, according to Anthropic's counsel.
- The payout will deliver $3,000 per work across an estimated 500,000 works, shared among the authors and publishers who hold rights to them.
- Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin issued the final approval of the settlement, following a preliminary approval by Judge William Alsup in 2025.
- This case marks the first major AI copyright lawsuit in the U.S. to reach a settlement.
- The lawsuit was filed in 2024 by a group of authors who alleged that Anthropic used pirated copies of their books without permission to train its chatbot.
- Judge William Alsup ruled that training an AI model on copyrighted text counts as fair use, a decision seen as a turning point for the AI industry.
- However, the ruling did not excuse how Anthropic obtained the books, as it was found to have illegally downloaded and stored millions of copyrighted books.
- The settlement closes out this case but does not settle the legal question industry-wide, as other lawsuits against AI companies are still ongoing.
A U.S. federal judge has approved a historic $1.5 billion settlement in a copyright class action lawsuit against Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot. This case, which has been described as potentially the largest copyright settlement in U.S. history, stems from allegations that Anthropic used pirated books to train its AI model.
The lawsuit, initiated in 2024, accused Anthropic of illegally downloading and storing millions of copyrighted works from shadow libraries like LibGen and Pirate Library Mirror. Judge William Alsup previously ruled that while training AI on copyrighted text could be considered fair use, the manner in which Anthropic obtained these works was illegal. “Anthropic could still be held liable for downloading and retaining millions of pirated books,” he stated.7
The settlement will distribute $3,000 per work across an estimated 500,000 works, with payments shared among authors and publishers based on ownership rights. “We are pleased that more than 91% of authors and publishers covered by the settlement have claimed their share,” an Anthropic counsel remarked.3
Despite the settlement, the legal landscape remains complex, with other lawsuits against AI companies like Google and OpenAI still pending. Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin dismissed objections regarding the settlement's size, emphasizing that the complaints were not grounded in a realistic assessment of trial risks. The attorneys involved were awarded over $101 million of the requested $187.5 million in fees.
While this settlement closes one chapter, it does not resolve the broader legal questions surrounding AI and copyright, as other judges may reach different conclusions in ongoing cases.
“More than 91% of authors and publishers covered by the settlement have claimed their share, with payouts set at $3,000 per work across an estimated 500,000 works. However, several authors have opted out and continue to pursue separate lawsuits against Anthropic.”
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