Anthropic Agrees to Pay Authors at Least $1.5 Billion in AI Copyright Settlement

Source: Wired

Anthropic has agreed to pay at least $1.5 billion to settle a lawsuit brought by a group of book authors alleging copyright infringement, an estimated $3,000 per work. The amount is well below what Anthropic may have had to pay if it had lost the case at trial. Experts said the plaintiffs may have been awarded at least billions of dollars in damages, with some estimates placing the total figure over $1 trillion.

This is the first class action legal settlement centered on AI and copyright in the United States, and the outcome may shape how regulators and creative industries approach the legal debate over generative AI and intellectual property.

“This landmark settlement far surpasses any other known copyright recovery. It is the first of its kind in the AI era. It will provide meaningful compensation for each class work and sets a precedent requiring AI companies to pay copyright owners. This settlement sends a powerful message to AI companies and creators alike that taking copyrighted works from these pirate websites is wrong,” says colead plaintiffs’ counsel Justin Nelson of Susman Godfrey LLP.

Anthropic is not admitting any wrongdoing or liability. “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,” Anthropic deputy general counsel Aparna Sridhar said in a statement.

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Read more: https://www.wired.com/story/anthropic-settlement-lawsuit-copyright/

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As I've said before, I'd like to see the AI companies sued out of existence. And all AI models trained on stolen copyrighted work destroyed, to be replaced only by models trained on what's in the public domain, plus whatever copyrighted work the company has obtained a legal right to use, in advance of the training.

$3,000 for a book is a joke. At a minimum, it should be whatever the book earned the author(s), adjusted for inflation to an equivalent amount in 2025.