Araceli Martínez-Olguín approves $1.5 billion copyright settlement between Anthropic and authors for use of pirated books in AI training.
US District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín approved a $1.5 billion settlement between the artificial intelligence company Anthropic and a class of authors, marking the largest copyright recovery in history. The deal resolves a class-action lawsuit initiated by authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson, who accused the company of using pirated books to train its Claude chatbot. Under the agreement, authors and publishers will receive approximately $3,000 for each of the 500,000 works covered by the settlement. While some authors argued the payout was low compared to potential statutory damages, Martínez-Olguín ruled that the settlement provides meaningful relief and avoids costly, lengthy litigation. The judge also reduced the requested lawyers' fees to less than 7 percent of the total fund to protect the interests of the class. Anthropic's deputy general counsel, Aparna Sridhar, stated the company is pleased with the landmark ruling that established AI training as fair use. Plaintiff attorney Justin Nelson noted that the settlement provides a significant victory for creators facing the rise of generative AI.