A federal judge on Thursday approved a settlement between AI company Anthropic and a group of authors who sued over copyright and piracy concerns related to the training of generative artificial intelligence models. US District Judge William Alsup had previously held off on approving the $1.5 billion settlement after he expressed concerns about authors potentially “getting the shaft” and not having enough time to join the suit by the given deadlines, along with additional questions.
The settlement will require Anthropic to pay $3,000 per book covered. Notices to authors will be sent via US mail, email, digital ads and more. Once the authors are notified and the claims process takes place, Alsup will consider final approval.
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The final list of all works included in the settlement was submitted on Sept. 15, and now that the settlement has been approved, more details, including how authors can file a claim for the suit, will follow soon. If you believe that your book or works are included in the settlement, you can provide your contact information at the Bartz settlement website. Authors included in the final list of books will be contacted by the claims administration team with more information.
The case originated from copyright concerns, an important legal issue for AI companies and creators. Alsup ruled in June that Anthropic’s use of copyrighted material was fair use, meaning it wasn’t illegal, but the way the company obtained the books warranted further scrutiny. In the ruling, it was revealed that Anthropic used shadow libraries like LibGen and then systematically acquired and destroyed thousands of used books to scan into its own digital library. The proposed settlement stems from those piracy claims.
Without significant legislation and regulation, court cases like these have become very important checks on AI companies’ power. Each case influences the next. Two days after Anthropic’s fair use victory, Meta won a similar case. While many AI copyright cases are still winding their way through the courts, Anthropic’s rulings and settlement terms will become an important benchmark for future cases.
