FW: info on copyright suit with AI provider anthropic
to...@brainm.com
There is a lot of attention to copyrights recently, and this is an important development, see below.
We who are teaching are contending with this increasing pressure not to share information,
which is making it harder to educate, even if we use “fair use” to use selective material.
In the wake of widespread piracy, it is becoming more risky for legitimate educators to even show an illustration
from a published paper in a course, lest some enterprising attorney comes after you for some violation,
even though this has been standard in education for a century.
We used to hand out and show lots of great educational material, but that era is coming to an end.
We look forward to seeing many of you in Niagara Falls!
Tom and Terri Collura and Bill Mrklas
BrainMaster and Stress Therapy Solutions
https://authorsguild.org/news/what-authors-need-to-know-about-the-anthropic-settlement/
Today, Anthropic agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle claims that it downloaded pirated books to train its AI systems—the largest U.S. copyright settlement in history. The parties in Bartz v Anthropic, one of the major copyright lawsuits brought by authors against an AI company for using pirated books to train its large language models, filed a proposed settlement agreement with the court that would settle the claims regarding the company’s mass piracy in downloading millions of books from notorious pirate sources Library Genesis (LibGen) and PiLiMi and then retaining them in a central library.
The settlement provides that Anthropic will pay $1.5 billion plus interest in cash into a settlement fund, representing the largest U.S. copyright infringement settlement ever and greater than any copyright damages award ever secured. The amount of the award sends a signal to all AI companies that downloading illegal copies of books to train AI comes with a heavy cost and, we expect, will foster further licensing, given the potential enormous liability AI companies risk when they help themselves to books for free from illegal channels.
“This historic settlement is a vital step in acknowledging that AI companies cannot simply steal authors’ creative work to build their AI just because they need books to develop quality LLMs,” said Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger. “It is truly shocking that Anthropic and the other major LLM owners engaged in criminal-level piracy schemes to torrent millions of books knowingly from infamous foreign ebook piracy sites that the publishing industry has actively been trying to take down for years. Imagine the outrage if Anthropic and others had illegally siphoned off electricity to build their AI, claiming it was too expensive to pay for it? These vastly rich companies, worth billions, stole from those earning a median income of barely $20,000 a year. This settlement sends a clear message that AI companies must pay for the books they use just as they pay for the other essential components of their LLMs. This settlement lays down an anchor that it is not okay. We expect that the settlement will lead to more licensing that gives author both compensation and control over the use of their work by AI companies, as should be the case in a functioning free market society.”
The case, Bartz v Anthropic was one of the major copyright lawsuits brought by authors against an AI company for using books without permission to train large language models. In June 2025, Judge Alsup of the federal court in the Northern District of California ruled on summary judgment that using books without permission to train AI was fair use if they were acquired legally, but denied Anthropic’s request for summary judgment related to piracy, finding that the piracy was not fair use. He scheduled a trial to determine Anthropic’s potential liability for piracy for December 1, 2025.
In July, the court certified a class of all rightsholders of books Anthropic acquired from LibGen and PiLiMi provided the books were registered with the U.S. Copyright Office in a timely manner (and have an ISBN or ASIN number). Judge Alsup certified the class only for piracy, not the act of AI training, and as such the fair use ruling on training applies only with respect to the three named plaintiffs, not the certified class authors and publishers.
Today’s proposed settlement agreement was anticipated as it comes on the heels of the August 28th jointly filed notice to the court stating that the parties had reached a settlement after an arms-length mediation with a third-party neutral mediator and wished to stay the trial and other proceedings in the case. Judge Alsup is holding a hearing this coming Monday to determine whether to preliminarily approve the proposed settlement agreement.
The $1.5 billion award will be split among the rightsholders of all of the books included in the class after administration and lawyers’ fees and expenses are paid. Each title will be paid an equal amount. The settlement agreement discloses that of the 7 million copies of books that Anthropic reportedly downloaded from Libgen and PiLiMi, after accounting for the many duplicates, only approximately five hundred thousand titles meet the definition required to be part of the class. That means that approximately $3,000 will be paid out per title.
Eligible titles are limited by the class definition, which only includes rights owners of books that meet this definition:
“Book” refers to any work possessing an ISBN or ASIN that was registered with the United States Copyright Office within five years of the work’s publication, and which was registered with the United States Copyright Office before being downloaded by Anthropic, or within three months of publication.
In sum, the work must have been:
- Registered within 3 months of its first publication (in any format) OR before the titles were downloaded (because the Copyright Act provides statutory (court-set) damages only if one of the two is true); AND
- Registered within 5 years of first publication (because the Copyright Act provides a presumption of validity of all of the facts in the registration certificate, such as author and owner for works registered within 5 years).
In other words:
- The work was registered within 3 months of publication, OR
- It was registered within 5 years of publication and before the download dates (from LibGen in June 2021 and PiLiMi in July 2022).
Publishers as well as authors are included in the class of those who can recover. In his class certification order, Judge Alsup included in the class “All beneficial or legal copyright owners of the exclusive right to reproduce copies of any book in the versions of LibGen or PiLiMi downloaded by Anthropic.”
For books where the author has granted the publisher an exclusive license to publish the book in exchange for percentage royalties, the publisher is the legal owner of the publication right, and the author is the “beneficial” owner of that right under copyright law. However, if the book has gone out of print and the rights have reverted to the author, the author becomes the sole and legal owner.
The Authors Guild is not a party to the suit. It was consulted, with other stakeholders, in connection with the settlement.
The Authors Guild has been proposed to serve as an author expert in allocation discussions. Specifically, in papers filed today, the class counsel seeks to establish an Author-Publisher Working Group (“APWG”) to advise on the equitable and efficient distribution of Settlement funds to Class Members, including in situations where multiple claimants (e.g., a publisher and an author) submit claims for the same work. The APWG will include counsel appointed to represent the authors’ and publishers’ interests respectively, as well as the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers.
Plaintiffs, with input from Anthropic, will continue to finalize the list of works and will deliver it to the court by October 10th. From that list, the settlement administrator will create a searchable database where authors and others can search for their works.
If the settlement is awarded preliminary approval, the notice administrator is expected to send notice in the fall. The official notice will instruct class members how to file a claim and provide other information about their choices.
The Authors Guild, many literary agencies, and other organizations have been working to get the word out. If you believe Anthropic may have downloaded your book(s) from LibGen or PiLiMi, please visit www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com to provide your contact information to Class Counsel.
The court will hold a final approval hearing after any comments or objections are received and will then determine whether to grant the settlement final approval. The court will also determine what fees the attorneys are entitled to.
Once the settlement is finally approved and any appeals are completed, the settlement administrator will start sending the initial tranche of the settlement fund payments within a month.
Anthropic will be paying the full amount into the settlement fund in 4 installments:
- $300 million within a week of the preliminary approval
- $300 million within a week of the court’s final approval
- $450 million within 12 months of the preliminary approval (qualified by its obtaining financing)
- $450 million within 24 months of the preliminary approval (unless Anthropic gets a certain level of funding before then, in which case it will pay right away).
We expect to have more details after next Monday’s hearing, and if so, will provide an update.
Why did the plaintiffs settle for $3,000 per work when statutory damages can be up to $150,000?
While the Copyright Act gives courts discretion to award statutory damages of at least $750 and no more than $150,000 per infringed work when the infringement is willful, as is the case here. The maximum amount is rarely awarded, and even less when there are a large number of works at issue. Trials are unpredictable, lengthy, and extremely costly, and if a jury were to award damages at the higher end, the defendant would almost certainly ask to have it set aside and would appeal a final judgement against them, which could tie up the case for years. By settling, the plaintiffs secured a strong payout without the risks of trial, avoided years of delay through appeals, and achieved a certain, immediate result that sends a powerful signal to the industry that piracy will cost you a lot. Settlements also give authors some measure of compensation more quickly, and they help move the industry to licensing, since AI companies now know they cannot simply take authors’ works without paying.
Does the settlement mean that Anthropic can now continue to use pirate books to train AI?
No. The settlement does not give Anthropic—or any AI company—permission to use pirated books going forward. It only resolves Anthropic’s liability for its past use of books, and not for any future use. In fact, the agreement states that Anthropic must destroy all copies in its possession.
The case found that Anthropic downloaded approximately seven million ebooks. Why does the settlement cover only around 500,000 ebooks?
The 7 million figure refers to the estimated total number of copies of books Anthropic downloaded from piracy sites. According to the court’s summary judgment order, Anthropic downloaded 5 million books from Libgen in June 2021 and another approximately 2 million books from PiLiMi in July 2022. However, even aside from duplicates, not all of those books Anthropic downloaded qualify for the class. The class is limited to books that (1) have an ISBN or ASIN, (2) were registered with the U.S. Copyright Office within five years of publication, and (3) were registered before Anthropic downloaded them (or within three months of publication). Duplicates of books were removed as well as foreign editions, which often lack ISBNs and/or copyright registration. Further, many books in dataset were never registered with the Copyright Office, or were registered too late to qualify, lacked ISBNs or ASINs.
I see that my book is in the Atlantic’s LibGen dataset—does that mean it will be in the class list?
Depends. The Atlantic’s dataset was compiled in March 2025. Anthropic, however, downloaded books much earlier—in June 2021 from Libgen and July 2022 from PiLiMI. The class in this case is limited to books that Anthropic actually downloaded during those timeframes. Your book may also be excluded if it lacked copyright registrations in accordance with class requirements and/or ISBNs/ASINs.
If you believe Anthropic may have downloaded your book(s) from LibGen or PiLiMi, please visit www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com to provide your contact information to Class Counsel.
How does the settlement impact other ongoing cases?
This settlement does not legally bind or control the outcomes of any other lawsuits against AI companies. Each case will proceed on its own facts, legal arguments, and timelines.
If I’m in this settlement, can I still join another case against a different company?
Yes. Being part of this settlement does not prevent you from joining or benefiting from other cases against different defendants. Each lawsuit is separate, and this settlement only resolves the claims brought in this case against Anthropic.
Do I have to pay taxes on the settlement money?
Settlement payments are generally considered taxable income by the IRS, and you should plan to report them on your tax return.
How will I be notified if I am eligible?
If your book is included in the class list, you will receive a formal notice by mail or email from the settlement administrator. The notice will explain the terms of the settlement, your rights, and next steps. The Authors Guild will also share information to help authors understand the process.
How will I know if my books are included in the settlement?
The parties will submit a final “Works List”—covering all books included in the class—to the Court by October 10, 2025. From that list, the settlement administrator will create a searchable database where authors and others can search for their works.
When will I be notified if my book is included?
If your book is on the Works List, you should receive an official notice by mail or email from the Settlement Administrator later this fall. The Guild will share updates, but the formal notice will come from the administrator.
When will payments be made?
There is not set a fixed calendar date for when you will receive the payment, but the initial payments to rightsholder will not be made until likely April.
According to the proposed settlement agreement, Anthropic will make its payments after final approval of the settlement and after claims are processed. Anthropic will pay into the settlement fund in four installments—$300M within five business days of the court’s preliminary approval (which could be soon), $300M within five business days of the court’s final approval, then $450M (+ interest) at 12 months and $450M (+ interest) at 24 months after preliminary approval; the money earns interest in escrow.
Will I need to file a claim to receive payment?
Yes. You will need submit a Claim Form to receive a settlement payment. Information on this will be provided along with the notice by the notice administrator.
to...@brainm.com
I would like to add a positive note to this issue,
To move into the future, we are developing and deploying new online tools that will be used for teaching, to replace the old concept of passing out printed material.
As an example, we have produced a suite of educational simulations
That provide interactive teaching of concepts we used ot show on paper.
We will use these and other materials as we teach new courses,
Examples can be seen at
www.brainmaster.com/educational-tools
we will also be distributing extensive links to online material, that is publicly
available, using the appropriate links to the publishers, pubmed, etc.
that way, participants will have complete access to authorized versions of important papers.
best to all, see you soon in Niagara Falls!
Tom
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