Anthropic’s $1.5B copyright settlement approved; only 350 authors opted out
Ars Technica AI · Ashley Belanger · 2026-07-21
A federal judge approved Anthropic's $1.5 billion settlement with authors—the largest copyright class-action settlement ever reached—with only 350 authors opting out despite complaints that the estimated $3,000-per-work payout was too low.
Extraction
Topics: ai-copyrightlegal-settlementai-training-dataanthropic
Claims
- A judge approved a $1.5 billion settlement between Anthropic and authors, making it both the largest copyright class-action ever certified and the largest copyright settlement ever reached.
- The court had previously ruled that Anthropic training AI on books constituted fair use, but that its piracy of works was likely not fair use.
- Authors opposing the settlement argued that lawyers' fees were too high and that individual payouts of approximately $3,000 per work were too low.
- Only 350 authors opted out of the settlement, despite some attempting to do so past the deadline to pursue separate lawsuits for higher damages.
Key quotes
a judge approved a $1.5 billion settlement between Anthropic and authors, ending the largest copyright class-action ever certified and granting the largest copyright settlement ever reached
Authors opposing the settlement argued that lawyers' fees were too high and authors' payouts were too low.