Anthropic's $1.5bn pirated books settlement approved amid new patent suit

A U.S. federal judge has approved Anthropic's $1.5 billion settlement with authors and publishers over the company's acquisition and use of pirated books to train its Claude artificial intelligence chatbot, marking the first major resolution in the growing wave of AI copyright litigation.

The agreement covers more than 482,000 books and will provide payments of about $3,000 per book to eligible authors and publishers.

District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín ruled that the settlement provides "meaningful relief" to rights holders, with about 91% of covered works already claimed.

Plaintiff attorney Justin Nelson described the deal as "the largest known copyright recovery in history."

The case was brought in 2024 by a group of authors led by bestselling novelist Andrea Bartz, who argued that Anthropic had used their works without permission in developing its AI systems.

The lawsuit followed a significant court ruling that found training AI models on copyrighted books could qualify as fair use under U.S. copyright law.

However, the court also found that Anthropic had improperly obtained millions of books through pirate websites, creating the basis for legal claims against the company.

Anthropic welcomed the outcome, highlighting the court's earlier finding that AI training on books itself constituted fair use.

The company said it was pleased that the vast majority of eligible authors and publishers had claimed their share of the settlement funds.

The agreement is regarded as the first major settlement among numerous copyright lawsuits currently facing AI developers over the use of published works in training large language models.

Even as the copyright case moves toward resolution, Anthropic is facing a fresh legal battle.

The University of Tennessee Research Foundation has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Delaware, alleging that Anthropic's AI systems infringe patents related to neural networks, machine learning and neuroscience-inspired computing.

The foundation claims two patents developed by university researchers cover technologies used in Anthropic's AI models. It is seeking unspecified financial damages and a court order barring further infringement.

In its complaint, the foundation argued that concerns about Anthropic's handling of intellectual property extend beyond copyrighted material to patented technologies as well.

The patent suit is believed to be the first of its kind brought against Anthropic and adds to the broader legal scrutiny facing artificial intelligence companies as courts continue to define the boundaries of intellectual property rights in the AI era.