UPDATE NOVEMBER 1
NEW: Writers Beware Summary of Anthropic Settlement – What You Need to Know
UPDATE OCTOBER 2:
Bartz v. Anthropic PBC is a class action lawsuit under the Copyright Act brought by authors on behalf of copyright holders against Anthropic PBC, an AI company. The Class of copyright holders — consisting of authors and publishers – claims that Anthropic took books from pirate websites Library Genesis (“LibGen”) and Pirate Library Mirror (“PiLiMi”) without authorization.
The settlement website in the Bartz v Anthropic class action is live as of October 2, and can be found here:
www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
Works Lookup
It includes comprehensive information about the case and settlement, including a searchable tool to see if your books are included in the settlement and a claim form. The website also lists multiple avenues for you to get any questions answered by the Settlement Administrator or Class Counsel (the plaintiffs’ lawyers). If you need assistance or any more information, please reach out to them through those channels.
A win for authors? – The Society of Authors
The latest developments in the Anthropic Case – The Society of Authors
London’s 12,500-member Society of Authors, CEO Anna Ganley sends a message of firm support: “This is a win for authors and rights holders, and a step in the right direction toward compensation for the unlawful use of copyright-protected works by Anthropic and other AI companies to train their AI models. We’ll now examine these new developments in detail to understand what this will mean for authors, translators, and illustrators in the United Kingdom (and other territories sic) who have had works stolen by Anthropic, as well as what precedent this will set for the wider industry. There is a way to daily monitor the settlement scheme on this website: | ANT
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The lawyers at the UK Society of Authors believe it would be useful to register copyright with the US Copyright Office as we know this is one of the conditions for authors to be eligible to be part of this settlement. This settlement might be widened as consultations are ongoing … Please take the long view re future settlements, and legal licensing deals, where this may also be a requirement, and consider US copyright office registration. Your publisher may do this or be doing this for your titles, so please ask them.
United States Copyright Office Registration
Copyright 101: Make sure your publisher registers your publication(s).
https://authorsguild.org/…/copyright-registration…/
Publishing Perspectives Update Sept 28
Judge Alsup’s preliminary approval at the US District Court of the Northern District of California sees Anthropic paying US$1.5 billion to authors and publishers of close to half-a-million books that Anthropic downloaded from notorious pirate sites to feed its AI models…
“This settlement,” says Association of American Publishers (AAP) “is a major step in the right direction in holding AI developers accountable for reckless and unabashed infringement. Piracy is an astonishingly poor decision for a tech company, and—as the settlement figure demonstrates—an expensive one. The law should not reward AI companies that profit by stealing.” AAP goes farther, making clear that the judge’s decision on “fair use” is not something the book publishing industry will condone. “As it becomes clearer and clearer,” she says, “that one AI company after another has helped itself to the intellectual property of authors and publishers, we hope that courts will recognize that the unlicensed, carte-blanche use of copyrighted works for AI training is not transformative and not fair use.
