At the start of the year, a class-action copyright lawsuit on behalf of almost 500,000 authors alleged that the AI company Anthropic pirated millions of copyrighted books to train its AI model, Claude. The case was first filed on August 19, 2024, by three authors—Andrea Bartz, Kirk Wallace Johnson, and Charles Graeber. A judge delivered a “mixed ruling.” The court found that using legally obtained copyrighted books to train AI models was fair use. However, downloading and storing these works and building a “shadow library” was piracy.
Seeing trouble on the horizon, Anthropic agreed to a $1.5 billion settlement, making it the largest-ever copyright infringement settlement. However, there’s more to the story.
Anthropic Copyright Settlement Nears Its Conclusion
In March of this year, almost 100,000 claims by authors were filed, and fewer than 0.5% of those eligible opted out. It was decided that authors would receive $3,000 per qualifying work. Anthropic certified it never used the pirated content in any officially released Claude model. It has also committed to destroying all pirated materials. There was extensive outreach to notify eligible authors of their rights in this case. The claim deadline was March 30, and a final approval hearing was scheduled for April 23.
Federal Judge Withholds Approval of $1.5 Billion Settlement
In May, a federal judge held off on final approval of the record-breaking settlement, wanting more clarity on lead plaintiff payments and attorney fees. The authors filed claims that covered over 92% of the 480,000+ works named in the settlement. However, some argue that the payout is too small or that it’s unfairly structured.
Opt-Out Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Moves Forward
More than 25 authors, including Angie Cruz and Dave Eggers, opted out and filed a separate copyright lawsuit against Anthropic. The group of plaintiffs is seeking a jury trial and individual damages for the company’s alleged use of their pirated works in training Claude.
Lawyers Poised for a Windfall from Anthropic Settlement
Critics of the settlement argue that attorneys are seeing an eye-popping $320 million in fees, amounting to approximately $10,000-$12,000 per hour. Meanwhile, individual authors will receive just $3,000 each. Objectors contend that lawyers were too eager to maximize their own payouts, rather than fighting for greater author compensation. There are other complaints as well. Anthropic refuses to destroy pirated copies of materials, and there’s a lack of future-use protection. Some authors report being actively shut out of the process. The judge, postponing final approval, ordered both sides to address these concerns by May 21. However, negotiations are ongoing.
What This Case Means for Authors
The Anthropic copyright settlement is reshaping how authors think about copyright registration and publishing rights. The $1.5 billion payout — roughly $3,100 per eligible work — marks the first time many writers will see meaningful financial benefit from copyright registration. However, eligibility was narrow. The works required ISBN or ASIN numbers and registered copyrights, and they had to appear in specific pirate libraries. Only about 7% of pirated books qualified.
A similar lawsuit against Meta further tightens restrictions. It excludes ASINs, which disadvantages self-published authors. The lesson? For independent writers and in the age of AI, copyright registration and ISBN acquisition are increasingly worth the investment.
CNET – Blake Stimac – March 24, 2026
Reuters – Blake Brittain – May 14, 2026