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Anthropic’s $1.5 Billion AI Copyright Settlement is Approved

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A judge has signed off on the $1.5 billion settlement of a class action lawsuit against Anthropic for its misuse of their books to train their AI.

U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin granted the approval, the largest known settlement of a U.S. copyright case, and rejected claims that the settlement was too small.

The deal was initially approved in September 2025 by now-retired Judge William Alsup.

The lawsuit was launched in 2024 and said that Anthropic used books without permission to teach the artificial system, Claude.

The ruling was a bit mixed in that some of the use was ruled as fair use but the company was nailed for saving more than 7 million pirated books into a “central library.” A trial was scheduled for December.

Authors and other copyright holders filed claims covering over 92% of the more than 480,000 works included ​in the settlement, an attorney for the authors said during a court hearing.

Some authors believed the settlement was not large enough and that the attorneys were receiving too much from the settlement. The attorneys were receiving more than $101 million of their $187.5 million in their requested fees.

Separate lawsuits have been filed by authors who have opted out of the settlement.

The Lawyers Behind the $1.5 Billion Anthropic Settlement Slash their Fee Bid after Pushback

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In December 2025, the lawyers behind the $1.5 billion settlement requested $302 million in fees and expenses from the court for their work during the lawsuit against Anthropic for use of copywritten material to train its AI model.

The lawsuit was over the artificial intelligence platform Anthropic’s use of copywritten material. The settlement includes $1.5 billion, about $3,000 for each instance of use. If an author has 3 books that were used by Anthropic, they’d receive $9,000 as an example.

The plaintiff’s lawyers asked a federal judge for $300 million in attorney fees plus expenses of about $1.97 million and $17 million reserve fund for future expenses in December 2025. That’s around 20% of the settlement. There was also a request of $50,000 for each of the three named plaintiffs in the case. $75 million of the $300 million would have gone to three firms, Cowan DeBaets Abrahams & Sheppard, Edelson, and Oppenheim + Zebrak, while the rest would have gone to Susman and Lieff Cabraser.

That amount received pushback and was objected to and that request has been lowered.

Law firms Susman Godfrey and Lieff Cabraser asked the federal court in San Francisco to award them 12.5% of the settlement fund, or $187.5 million.

The final approval of the settlement will be considered during an April 23 hearing. A preliminary approval happened in September 2025.

Anthropic Case Attorneys Request $302 million in Fees and Expenses

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We’ve previously covered the Anthropic class action case. The lawsuit was over the artificial intelligence platform Anthropic’s use of copywritten material. The settlement includes $1.5 billion, about $3,000 for each instance of use. If an author has 3 books that were used by Anthropic, they’d receive $9,000 as an example. The plaintiff’s lawyers have asked a federal judge for $300 million in attorney fees plus expenses of about $1.97 million and $17 million reserve fund for future expenses. That’s around 20% of the settlement. There’s also a request of $50,000 for each of the three named plaintiffs in the case.

The motion was filed and they attorneys claim their 20% is “markedly below” the 25% benchmark usually given. Class counsel from Susman Godfrey and Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP would split 75% of the fees award.

The lawyers state they’ve spent more than 18,000 hours on the case which comes out to about $16,700 an hour.

ClaimsHero Holdings Criticized by Judge for Encouraging Authors Opt-Out of Anthropic Settlement

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Arizona law firm ClaimsHero Holdings LLC was criticized by a judge for encouraging authors to opt-out of the $1.5 billion settlement by Anthropic. The settlement is an attempt to resolve copyright infringement claims. In September, U.S. District Judge William Alsup called the class-action settlement “fair” during a hearing setting the stage for notification of authors impacted and allowing them to file claims. Anthropic is accused of using millions of pirated of books to teach its AI assistant Claude to respond to prompts.

ClaimsHero Holdings calls itself a “consumer justice platform dedicated to helping individuals seek justice for various consumer harms.” On their page concerning Anthropic’s settlement, it states:

Anthropic has received preliminary court approval of a settlement to resolve claims that it illegally downloaded millions of pirated books from online datasets. That settlement provides for just $3,000 per copyright claimant. But the law provides for up to $150,000. Unless you take action, authors and rightsholders will be automatically included in that settlement. If you opt out of that settlement, you may be entitled to more compensation. Let us opt you out, represent you, and fight for more!

During a recent court proceeding, the judge criticized the firm accusing them of attempting to deceive individuals for a “quick buck,” scrutinizing their actions and raising concerns about the firm’s motives and practices.

Anthropic’s $1.5 billion Copyright Settlement Gets Preliminary Approval

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The $1.5 billion settlement by Anthropic over the use of the works of authors to train AI is back on the table. In early September, the record setting agreement was announced by Anthropic and lawyers representing authors but that agreement was rejected by the judge for the case due to multiple concerns.

Now, U.S. District Judge William Alsup has called the class-action settlement “fair” during a hearing that took place on Thursday.

The next step is to notify the affected authors and give them a chance to file claims.

Anthropic is accused of using millions of pirated of books to teach its AI assistant Claude to respond to prompts.

The case has been interesting as Anthropic had been cleared from some of its wrongdoing with the judge ruling that training their model on purchased work was “exceedingly transformative.” Where Anthropic ran into issues was its use of pirated material in that training. About 7 million pirated books were saved to a “central library.”

As reported earlier, the settlement would cover anything done before a certain date but any new infractions after could lead to further lawsuits. Anthropic would also destroy the datasets used in its models. The settlement would amount to about $3,000 per class work.

A trial was set to begin in December over the piracy. Potential damages would have been in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

Judge rejects the $1.5 billion Anthropic AI Settlement with Authors Due to Lack of Details

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It was a record setting settlement by Anthropic to authors and it has been rejected by Judge William Alsup with much more to be done. The federal judge has concerns with a $1.5 billion settlement deal and it’ll be forced “down the throat of authors.”

The judge reportedly felt misled by the deal and that it was “nowhere close to complete.” The judge said he was disappointed that counsel have left important questions to be answered in the future.” Questions include some key ones like the list of works involved in the case, the list of authors, the process of notifying members of the class and the claim form members can use to get their settlement payment.

Anthropic was sued for using the works of authors to train its AI model. In the case, U.S. District Judge William Aslup ruled that Anthropic’s use of the books in training models was “exceedingly transformative,” a factor to determine if the use was under legal “fair use.” It was a major decision, the first concerning the issue. But, there was still a question of Anthropic pirating books from the internet to train its models, which would still need to settled in a trial.

In short, they were covered with what they purchased but there was all of the other stuff they pirated that was left to be decided if that was legal or not.

Anthropic in the settlement would have paid $1.5 billion and destroyed datasets used in its models.

About 500,000 authors were involved and they’d have received about $3,000 per work.

The lawyers need to give the class members “very good notice” about the settlement as well as design as claim form where those authors can opt in or out. Anthropic also can’t be sued for the same issue in the future as part of all of this.

The lawyers have until September 15 to submit a final list of works involved in the lawsuit. A class members list and claims form need to be examined and approved by the court by October 10.

After all of that, the court might grant preliminary approval.

(via Bloomberg Law)

Anthropic has agreed to pay $1.5 billion to Settle an AI Lawsuit with Authors

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As we bring the news of Warner Bros. Discovery’s lawsuit against Midjourney, another case involving AI and theft is being settled. Anthropic has agreed to pay at least $1.5 billion into a class action fund as part of a settlement. The litigation was brought by a group of book authors.

The settlement releases Anthropic for it conduct up to August 25. That means new claims could be filed for any conduct after that date. Anthropic will also destroy the datasets used in its models.

The settlement amount is about $3,000 per class work.

A hearing in the case is scheduled for September 8. A “settlement in principle” was previously announced by Anthropic and the creators.

In the case, U.S. District Judge William Aslup ruled that Anthropic’s use of the books in training models was “exceedingly transformative,” a factor to determine if the use was under legal “fair use.” It was a major decision, the first concerning the issue. But, there was still a question of Anthropic pirating books from the internet to train its models, which would still need to settled in a trial.

Even though they’ll be paying $1.5 billion, it is a win for Antropic and possibly other AI companies allowing them to purchase a copy of the work, and then train their model off of it.

While $3,000 might not seem like a lot, it’s more than the $750 statutory damages amount a jury could award and more than the $200 amount if Anthropic were to prevail on its defense of innocent infringement.