Anthropic Agrees to $1.5 Billion AI Copyright Settlement

Anthropic has agreed to a landmark $1.5 billion settlement to resolve a U.S. class action lawsuit brought by book authors who alleged their copyrighted works were used without permission to train the AI chatbot Claude. The settlement, which provides approximately $3,000 per book, is considered the largest publicly known copyright recovery in the U.S. and sets a precedent for AI companies to compensate copyright owners. While U.S. District Judge William Alsup previously ruled that AI training could constitute fair use, he acknowledged Anthropic had no right to download pirated books, leading to the settlement that includes destroying the unauthorized datasets. Anthropic does not admit liability but will erase the pirated copies and release the company from claims for conduct up to August 25, 2025. The case is part of a broader wave of copyright litigation targeting AI companies and has significant implications for the legal and creative industries concerning AI and intellectual property.