Anthropic, an artificial intelligence company backed by Amazon, has agreed to pay at least $1.5 billion to settle a major copyright lawsuit brought by authors in the United States. The case, involving allegations that the company used pirated books to train its AI models, is being called the largest publicly reported recovery in the history of US copyright litigation.
Settlement details
According to court filings, authors will receive around $3,000 per book or work, with payouts covering roughly 500,000 works. If more claims are submitted, Anthropic will add $3,000 per additional book. The company must also destroy original downloaded files and any copies used for AI training. Importantly, the settlement only applies to past acts, not future uses of copyrighted works.
The agreement is subject to court approval, with a hearing scheduled for September 8. A dedicated portal, AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com, has been created for authors and rightsholders to check whether their works qualify and to submit claims.
Background of the case
The dispute began in August 2024 when authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson alleged that Anthropic built its business using copyrighted books without permission. While a federal judge ruled the company could legally train models on books it purchased, questions over pirated content led to a class-action lawsuit. In July 2025, a California judge allowed the case to proceed on behalf of all US authors whose works were allegedly copied.
Wider implications for AI industry
Anthropic’s deputy general counsel, Aparna Sridhar, said the settlement resolves “legacy claims” while the company remains committed to building safe AI systems. The ruling comes at a time when AI firms are facing increasing legal scrutiny, including lawsuits from publishers, music companies, and platforms such as Reddit.
The settlement underscores the growing tension between AI development and copyright protection, even as tech firms seek licensing agreements with media companies and content creators. If approved, it will set a precedent for how disputes over copyrighted training data may be resolved in the future.
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