Anthropic’s $1.5 billion book piracy settlement approved by judge

AICloseAIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All AINewsCloseNewsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All NewsPolicyClosePolicyPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All PolicyAnthropic’s $1.5 billion book piracy settlement approved by judgeThe $3,000 per book payment could be the ‘largest known copyright recovery in history.’The $3,000 per book payment could be the ‘largest known copyright recovery in history.’by Emma RothCloseEmma RothNews WriterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Emma RothJul 21, 2026, 4:53 PM UTCLinkShareGiftImage: The VergeEmma RothCloseEmma RothPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Emma Roth is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.A federal judge has signed off on Anthropic’s $1.5 billion class action settlement with authors who accused the company of training its AI models on copyrighted books, as reported earlier by Reuters. In an order on Monday, Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín writes that the settlement will provide “meaningful relief,” offering authors around $3,000 for each book allegedly pirated by Anthropic.The $1.5 billion settlement is the “largest known copyright recovery in history,” according to the law firm representing the plaintiffs. A group of authors — Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson — first filed a copyright lawsuit against Anthropic in 2024. While the now-retired Judge William Alsup granted Anthropic a partial victory last year, he approved a separate class action lawsuit claiming the company engaged in the “Napster-style downloading of millions of works.” Anthropic agreed to a $1.5 billion settlement in September 2025, to which Judge Alsup later granted preliminary approval.“We are pleased that more than 91% of authors and publishers covered by the settlement have claimed their share of the payment,” Anthropic general counsel Aparna Sridhar tells Reuters. “We’re looking forward ​to bringing this matter to a close.” Anthropic is still facing copyright lawsuits from Chicken Soup for the Soul and several other authors who argue that $3,000 per book isn’t enough.Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Emma RothCloseEmma RothNews WriterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Emma RothAICloseAIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All AIAnthropicCloseAnthropicPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All AnthropicCopyrightCloseCopyrightPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All CopyrightLawCloseLawPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All LawNewsCloseNewsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All NewsPolicyClosePolicyPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All PolicyMost PopularMost PopularThe FCC is planning to retroactively ban disguised DJI gadgetsThe Light Flip is a minimalist flip phone with a point to proveApple’s rumored ‘Upgrade’ program brings lease-to-own pricing for iPhones, Macs, and iPadsGarmin’s new screen-free fitness tracker doesn’t require a subscriptionThe Odyssey turned me into an IMAX believerThe Verge DailyA free daily digest of the news that matters most.Email (required)Sign UpBy subm