The latest on the Anthropic settlement with authors

In June, the judge presiding over the Bartz v Anthropic lawsuit ruled that Anthropic must pay damages for its use of pirated datasets LibGen and the Pirate Library Mirror (PiLiMi) to train its AI models. 

The settlement website for the class action is now live and can be found here: www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com.  It includes comprehensive information about the case and settlement, including a searchable tool to see if your books are included in the settlement and a claim form. The website also lists multiple avenues for you to get any questions answered by the Settlement Administrator or Class Counsel (the plaintiffs’ lawyers).  If you need assistance or any more information, please reach out to them through those channels.

If your works are included in this list, you will receive an official notice from the Settlement Administrator. However, you don’t need to wait for this notice to submit your claims form. The deadline to claim is 23 March 2026. 

Which authors will be eligible for payment? 

Authors based outside of the US are also eligible for payment. However, to be eligible for payment their works must: 

• Have been downloaded from LibGen and/or PiLiMi

• Have been registered with the US Copyright Office within 3 months of publication or before it was downloaded by Anthropic and within 5 years of publication 

• Have a valid ISBN or ASIN 

Because of the strict eligibility criteria, only approximately 500,000 titles out of the 7 million copies of books that Anthropic reportedly downloaded meet the definition required to be included in the works list. Rightholders will receive approximately $3,000 per eligible title, with an optional split of 50/50 between author and publisher for most books, and a tailored approach for education works.

ALCS’s role 

We are sharing this information with our members as some may have works included in these pirated datasets, and subsequently may be eligible to receive a payout as part of this class action. However, ALCS is not involved in the administration of this lawsuit, so we cannot advise members other than to signpost the relevant information.  

The Authors Guild, who are administering this lawsuit, have compiled a comprehensive set of questions and answers on their website here. 

Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger said: “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.”  

You can also read this blog from Society of Authors Chief Executive Anna Ganley.