is The Verge’s senior AI reporter. An AI beat reporter for more than five years, her work has also appeared in CNBC, MIT Technology Review, Wired UK, and other outlets.
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In what’s potentially the first major payout to creatives whose work was used to train AI systems, Anthropic has reached an agreement to pay “at least” a staggering $1.5 billion, plus interest, to authors to settle its class-action lawsuit. The amount breaks down to smaller payouts expected to be approximately $3,000 per book or work. Lawyers for the plaintiffs said it’s “believed to be the largest publicly reported recovery in the history of US copyright litigation.”
“This result is nothing short of remarkable,” the legal filing states.
The settlement is subject to court approval, and a hearing will take place on September 8th. According to a press release, the final amount could be higher, in that approximately 500,000 works will likely be paid out, but if the total is higher than that, Anthropic will pay an additional $3,000 per work, and it all depends on the number of claims submitted. As part of the settlement, Anthropic must also destroy the original files it downloaded and any copies.
“The settlement only releases claims based on past acts – it does not give Anthropic a license or permission for future AI training and it does not release any claims that arise after August 25, 2025,” the release stated.
The landmark decision is part of a year-long saga. In August 2024, three authors — Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson — alleged that Anthropic had “built a multibillion-dollar business by stealing hundreds of thousands of copyrighted books.” Over the summer, a federal judge handed Anthropic a small win, ruling that the company was within its legal rights to train its AI models on legally purchased books. But the judge also said that Anthropic would need to face a separate trial for its alleged use of pirated books. In July, a California federal judge ruled that the authors could bring a class action lawsuit representing all US writers whose work allegedly came from libraries of pirated books downloaded by Anthropic. And late last month, Anthropic said it had settled the class action lawsuit — but we didn’t know the terms until now.
“In June, the District Court issued a landmark ruling on AI development and copyright law, finding that Anthropic’s approach to training AI models constitutes fair use,” Aparna Sridhar, Anthropic’s deputy general counsel, told The Verge in a statement. “Today’s settlement, if approved, will resolve the plaintiffs’ remaining legacy claims. We remain committed to developing safe AI systems that help people and organizations extend their capabilities, advance scientific discovery, and solve complex problems.”
Related The scary truth about AI copyright is nobody knows what will happen next
The settlement is especially noteworthy during a time of mounting lawsuits against AI companies over copyright infringement from media outlets, platforms, creatives, and companies — and, at the same time, an increasing number of partnerships with those same AI companies from companies and media outlets willing to provide data to train AI systems in order to get a piece of the pie.
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