US judge approves Anthropic’s $1.5 billion settlement of copyright lawsuit

A federal judge in San Francisco has approved a $1.5 billion settlement of a class action lawsuit brought by authors against AI company Anthropic. The settlement, the largest known copyright recovery in history, was reached after the court's landmark ruling that training AI on books is fair use under copyright law.

U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin granted final approval of the settlement, rejecting arguments that it was too small. The case is one of dozens brought by copyright owners against tech companies over the training of their large language models. Anthropic deputy general counsel Aparna Sridhar said in a statement, "We reached this settlement in 2025, after the court's landmark ruling that training AI on books is fair use under copyright law — which remains the law today."

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The authors' lead attorney, Justin Nelson, welcomed what he called a "historic settlement." "It is the largest known copyright recovery in history. We look forward to making distributions to the Class as promptly as possible," Nelson said in a statement. Over 91% of authors and publishers covered by the settlement have claimed their share of the payment.

The writers sued Anthropic in 2024, arguing that the company, backed by Amazon and Alphabet, used pirated versions of their books without permission to teach its AI chatbot, Claude, to respond to human prompts. Retired Judge William Alsup initially approved the deal last September. A trial was scheduled to begin in December to determine how much Anthropic owed for the alleged piracy.

Judge Martinez-Olguin overruled objections from some authors who argued the settlement was not large enough or overcompensated the plaintiffs' attorneys. The judge awarded the attorneys more than $101 million of the $187.5 million they requested in fees. Some authors and publishers opted out of the settlement and have filed separate lawsuits against Anthropic that are still ongoing.

The settlement has sparked debate about the use of copyrighted materials in AI training. Anthropic's AI chatbot, Claude, is a leading example of the technology, which is increasingly being used in various industries. The case highlights the need for clear guidelines on the use of copyrighted materials in AI training.

As the settlement comes to a close, the authors and publishers covered by the agreement can expect to receive their share of the payment. The case has significant implications for the tech industry and the use of AI in various sectors.

Source: JOY