Anthropic to pay $1.5 billion to settle authors’ copyright lawsuit
Anthropic, the company behind the Claude artificial intelligence app, has reached a historic settlement in a class-action lawsuit brought forth by book authors. The authors alleged that Anthropic used pirated copies of their works to train its chatbot, leading to a legal battle that could have had significant financial implications for the company.
The $1.5 billion settlement will see authors receiving approximately $3,000 for each of the estimated 500,000 books that were involved in the lawsuit. The plaintiffs, including authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson, initially sued Anthropic, representing a larger group of writers and publishers whose works were used without permission.
This landmark settlement could signal a turning point in the ongoing legal disputes between AI companies and creative professionals who claim copyright infringement. The judge overseeing the case is expected to approve the settlement soon, potentially setting a precedent for future cases in the AI era.
In a statement, Anthropic’s deputy general counsel, Aparna Sridhar, emphasized the company’s commitment to developing AI systems that comply with copyright laws. The settlement follows a previous ruling that found Anthropic’s use of legally purchased books for training Claude did not violate US copyright law.
Anthropic, founded by former OpenAI executives, introduced Claude in 2023 as a generative AI bot that provides answers to natural language questions based on extensive training on various written materials. The settlement terms were reached to avoid the potentially higher costs of losing the case in a scheduled trial later this year.
The lawsuit revealed that Anthropic had downloaded millions of books from sources known to contain pirated content, including Books3, Library Genesis, and Pirate Library Mirror. The settlement award of $3,000 per work reflects the impact on authors and publishers whose works were used without permission.
Mary Rasenberger, CEO of the Authors Guild, praised the settlement as a significant victory for authors and rightsholders, sending a clear message to the AI industry about the consequences of using copyrighted material without authorization.
The settlement terms will be reviewed by the US District Court, with a hearing scheduled for Monday. The outcome of this case could have far-reaching implications for AI companies and their practices regarding the use of copyrighted material in training their algorithms.
