Landmark $1.5 Billion Anthropic Settlement: Key Details for Authors

Anthropic has agreed to a historic $1.5 billion settlement with a certified class of authors and publishers, resolving claims that the AI company downloaded millions of pirated books from notorious shadow libraries LibGen and PiLiMi to train its large language models (LLMs). This marks the largest copyright settlement in U.S. history, surpassing any previous court-ordered damages in similar cases.

The case, Bartz v. Anthropic, was one of several major lawsuits filed by authors to hold AI companies accountable for scraping creative works without permission. According to the settlement documents, Anthropic will pay the full $1.5 billion plus interest into a settlement fund, distributed across four installments over two years.

Why This Settlement Matters

As reported by the Authors Guild (AG), the agreement sets a precedent that could reshape how AI companies acquire training data going forward. “This historic settlement is a vital step in acknowledging that AI companies cannot simply steal authors’ creative work,” said Mary Rasenberger, CEO of the Authors Guild. She added that the payout makes clear: using pirated content carries serious financial and reputational consequences.

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) also praised the outcome, calling it a strong deterrent to future piracy and a foundation for more formalized licensing systems between publishers, authors, and AI companies.

Who Is Eligible to Receive Payment

The class includes legal or beneficial owners of books with ISBNs or ASINs that were properly registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. Eligible works must have been registered either within three months of publication or before Anthropic’s downloads took place (June 2021 for LibGen, July 2022 for PiLiMi).

From the estimated 7 million ebooks originally downloaded, duplicates and non-qualifying titles narrow the list down to roughly 500,000 unique works. Each eligible title is expected to receive about $3,000, though final amounts will depend on the total number of qualifying works and deduction of attorneys’ fees.

Allocation Between Authors and Publishers

In cases where authors assigned exclusive publishing rights, publishers are considered the legal owners, while authors remain the beneficial owners. For out-of-print titles with reverted rights, authors are the sole eligible claimants. To navigate disputes, the court is expected to establish an Author-Publisher Working Group (APWG) with participation from the Authors Guild and AAP to advise on equitable distribution.

Payment Timeline

If approved, Anthropic’s payments will be made in four tranches:

• $300 million within one week of preliminary approval

• $300 million within one week of final approval

• $450 million within 12 months of preliminary approval

• $450 million within 24 months of preliminary approval

Payments to rightsholders will begin after claims are processed and appeals, if any, are resolved.

What Authors Should Do Now

The parties will submit the finalized list of eligible works to the court by October 10, 2025. A searchable database will then be created so rightsholders can check if their works are included. Class members will receive official notices later this fall with instructions on how to file claims.

Authors who suspect their works may have been included in Anthropic’s dataset are encouraged to provide their contact details to class counsel through the dedicated site: www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com.

Looking Ahead

This case does not permit Anthropic—or any other AI company—to use pirated books in the future. In fact, Anthropic is required to destroy its LibGen and PiLiMi datasets after legal holds are lifted. Importantly, the settlement only covers past conduct through August 25, 2025, leaving the door open for further litigation over future infringements or AI-generated outputs.

The AG notes that while trials can be risky, lengthy, and expensive, this settlement delivers immediate compensation, certainty, and industry-shaping precedent: piracy is not innovation, and authors’ rights must be respected in the age of AI.