Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot, has agreed to a record-breaking $1.5 billion settlement to resolve a class-action piracy lawsuit brought by more than 500,000 authors. The payout is the largest ever for a copyright case in the United States and sets a major precedent for the AI industry.
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According to a report by The New York Times, the settlement will provide $3,000 per work to the authors involved.
While a judge previously ruled that Anthropic’s use of copyrighted material for training its large language model constituted “fair use,” the lawsuit was allowed to move forward on piracy claims. The authors’ books were downloaded illegally from websites like Library Genesis (“LibGen”), a fact the court found actionable.
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Justin A. Nelson, the lawyer representing the authors, called the settlement “the first of its kind in the AI era” and said it sends a powerful message that AI companies must pay copyright owners. As part of the agreement, Anthropic has also agreed to delete all illegally downloaded content from its systems, though the company has not admitted to any wrongdoing.
In a statement, Anthropic’s Deputy General Counsel, Aparna Sridhar, said the settlement “will resolve the plaintiffs’ remaining legacy claims” while reiterating the company’s commitment to developing safe and beneficial AI systems.
