Anthropic’s $1.5B copyright settlement is getting messy as judge delays approval
Ars Technica AI · Ashley Belanger · 2026-05-15
A federal judge delayed final approval of Anthropic's $1.5 billion book-piracy copyright settlement — the largest in US history — after objecting authors argued that lawyer fees were excessive and class member payouts were inadequate.
Extraction
Topics: ai-copyrightanthropictraining-dataclass-action-settlement
Claims
- US District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin declined to rubber-stamp Anthropic's $1.5 billion settlement, regarded as the largest copyright settlement in US history.
- Objectors argued that lawyers' fees were far too high relative to the payments class members would receive.
- Some objectors alleged the authors' legal team was actively trying to prevent class members from voicing concerns.
- The judge asked the authors' legal team to address key objections before final approval could proceed.
Key quotes
lawyers' compensation was way too high and payments to class members were a 'pittance.'
the authors' legal team was trying to unfairly shut them out from voicing concerns.