Anthropic settles $1.5 billion copyright dispute with authors
The settlement, described by plaintiffs’ counsel as the largest known copyright recovery in history, provides approximately $3,000 per allegedly pirated work, though separate litigation continues.
A federal judge has approved Anthropic’s $1.5 billion class action settlement with authors who accused the company of training its artificial intelligence models on copyrighted books without permission. In an order issued on Monday, Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín signed off on the agreement, stating it would provide “meaningful relief” to the plaintiffs.
The settlement resolves claims brought by authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson, who filed the original lawsuit in 2024. Under the terms of the agreement, authors will receive approximately $3,000 for each book allegedly pirated by Anthropic. The plaintiffs’ law firm has characterised the $1.5 billion payout as the largest known copyright recovery in history.
Anthropic agreed to the settlement terms in September 2025, receiving preliminary approval from now-retired Judge William Alsup. While Judge Alsup had previously granted Anthropic a partial victory in late 2024, he had also approved a separate class action lawsuit alleging the company engaged in “Napster-style downloading of millions of works.”
Anthropic’s general counsel, Aparna Sridhar, expressed satisfaction with the progress of the settlement. “We are pleased that more than 91% of authors and publishers covered by the settlement have claimed their share of the payment,” Sridhar told Reuters. “We’re looking forward to bringing this matter to a close.”
Despite the resolution of this specific class action, Anthropic continues to face separate copyright litigation. Parties including Chicken Soup for the Soul and other authors are pursuing claims arguing that the $3,000 per book compensation is insufficient for the alleged infringement.
