Anthropic's $1.5B Copyright Settlement Sparks Disputes

Anthropic's $1.5 billion settlement over using pirated books to train AI is now paying out. A court ruled that using copyrighted material for AI training is fair use, but pirated copies aren't protected, so Anthropic must pay authors of nearly 500,000 works $3,000 each.

Recently, some authors complain publishers are claiming more than their share. For instance, novelist April Henry found HarperCollins claimed a book whose rights reverted to her years ago, and her credit report now lists HarperCollins as an employer. Victoria Strauss of Writers Beware says complaints fall into two types: publishers claiming works they no longer own, or quietly taking 100% when they should get 50%. She thinks this is mostly due to poor record-keeping, not malice.

Literary agencies are also trying to get a cut. As payments continue, these disputes may slow down the settlement process.