Judge approves Anthropic’s $1.5 billion author settlement
The deal would pay about $3,000 per book to authors who accused Anthropic of using pirated works to train AI models.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
2 min read
A federal judge has given final approval to Anthropic’s $1.5 billion settlement with authors who accused the AI company of using copyrighted books without permission to train its models. The order matters for the wider AI copyright fight because the plaintiffs’ law firm says it is the largest known copyright recovery on record.
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín approved the class action deal in an order issued Monday, according to the court order. The order said the settlement would deliver “meaningful relief” to covered authors, with payments of about $3,000 for each book allegedly pirated by Anthropic.
The plaintiffs’ law firm, Susman Godfrey, described the $1.5 billion agreement as the “largest known copyright recovery in history,” according to a statement from the firm. The settlement covers claims brought on behalf of authors whose works were allegedly downloaded and used by Anthropic.
The lawsuit began in 2024, when authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber and Kirk Wallace Johnson sued Anthropic over its handling of copyrighted books, according to the case history described in court filings and prior reporting. The authors accused the company of using protected works in connection with AI training.
The case had already produced a mixed result before the settlement. Retired Judge William Alsup gave Anthropic a partial victory last year, according to court proceedings reported at the time, but he also allowed a separate class action to proceed over allegations that Anthropic engaged in “Napster-style downloading of millions of works.”
Anthropic agreed to the $1.5 billion settlement in September 2025, and Alsup later granted preliminary approval, according to Reuters and court records. Martínez-Olguín’s order gives the deal final approval.
Anthropic general counsel Aparna Sridhar told Reuters that more than 91% of authors and publishers covered by the settlement have claimed their share. Sridhar told Reuters the company was pleased with that participation and was looking forward to closing the matter.
The approval does not end every copyright dispute facing Anthropic. Reuters and Publishers Weekly have reported that Anthropic still faces lawsuits from Chicken Soup for the Soul and other authors who contend that the $3,000-per-book payment is too low.
The settlement lands as courts continue to test how copyright law applies to AI systems trained on large collections of books and other creative works. In this case, the final approval turns one of the most closely watched author challenges into a nine-figure payout, while leaving related claims against Anthropic unresolved.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.