- By Alex David
- Sat, 06 Sep 2025 11:02 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
San Francisco, CA — AI startup Anthropic has settled out of court with a group of authors for at least $1.5 billion after being accused of illegally using books belonging to authors to train AI. If the settlement is approved, it would become the largest publicly known copyright recovery, a landmark moment in the legal fight over A.I. and intellectual property.
Terms of the Settlement
This agreement, filed this week in U.S. District Court for Northern District of California, stipulates payments of approximately $3,000 per book plus interest to affected authors and further requires Anthropic to destroy datasets containing pirated material used to train its models.
Both publishing industry and AI sectors are closely monitoring this case as it could serve as a precursor for how copyright disputes will be settled in AI's era.
The Lawsuit and Allegations
The lawsuit was initiated last year by authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson. They accused Anthropic of “large-scale copyright infringement” by downloading and commercially exploiting books from allegedly pirated sources, including Library Genesis and Pirate Library Mirror.
In June, a judge ruled that Anthropic’s use of books for AI training qualified as fair use, but allowed the case to proceed to trial to determine whether the sourcing of materials from pirate databases constituted copyright infringement. The trial was scheduled for December before this settlement was reached.
Statements from Both Sides
Plaintiffs’ attorney Justin Nelson called the outcome a major victory, stating:
“This settlement sends a powerful message to AI companies and creators alike that taking copyrighted works from these pirate websites is wrong.”
Anthropic, which is backed by Amazon and Google, acknowledged in court filings that it faced “inordinate pressure” to reach an agreement, as going to trial carried the risk of damages as high as $1 trillion.
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In a statement to Bloomberg, an Anthropic spokesperson said:
“We remain committed to developing safe AI systems that help people and organisations extend their capabilities, advance scientific discovery, and solve complex problems.”
Broader Implications for the AI Industry
This settlement represents one of the first major copyright resolutions in a wave of lawsuits against AI companies such as OpenAI, Meta and Midjourney which face allegations that their online content misuse.
Legal experts believe the deal could serve as a marker for future copyright litigation cases, setting precedent in terms of how courts, publishers and AI firms assess the balance between innovation and intellectual property rights.
