Anthropic agreed to a proposed $1.5 billion settlement in Bartz v. Anthropic over claims it downloaded pirated books to help train Claude.
If approved, plaintiffs’ counsel says it would be the largest U.S. copyright recovery to date. A preliminary approval hearing is set for today.
In June, Judge William Alsup held that training on lawfully obtained books can qualify as fair use, while copying and storing millions of pirated books is infringement. That order set the stage for settlement talks.
Settlement Details
The deal would pay about $3,000 per eligible title, with an estimated class size of roughly 500,000 books. Plaintiffs allege Anthropic pulled at least 7 million copies from piracy sites Library Genesis and Pirate Library Mirror.
Justin Nelson, counsel for the authors, said:
“As best as we can tell, it’s the largest copyright recovery ever.”
How Payouts Would Work
According to the Authors Guild’s summary, the fund is paid in four tranches after court approvals: $300M soon after preliminary approval, $300M after final approval, then $450M at 12 months and 450M at 24 months, with interest accruing in escrow.
A final “Works List” is due October 10, which will drive a searchable database for claimants.
The Guild notes the agreement requires destruction of pirated copies and resolves only past conduct.
Why This Matters
If you rely on AI tools in content workflows, provenance now matters more. Expect more licensing deals and clearer disclosures from vendors about training data sources.
For publishers and creators, the per-work payout sets a reference point that may strengthen negotiating leverage in future licensing talks.
Looking Ahead
The judge will consider preliminary approval today. If granted, the notice process begins this fall and payments to rightsholders would follow final approval and claims processing, funded on the installment schedule above.
Featured Image: Tigarto/Shutterstock
