Michael Capobianco

The Authors Guild doesn't deserve the blame here. The definition of the class, which included the copyright registration requirement, was suggested by the judge. The Authors Guild was not a plaintiff in this case and was called in as an advisor long after the class had been certified.

Anthropic FAQ - SFWA - The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association Frequently Asked Questions about the Anthropic/AI Settlement Please note that all answers are based on the settlement documents as of […]

www.sfwa.org/anthropic-faq/

Bartz v. Anthropic Settlement: An Update for Authors - Writer Beware The searchable list of eligible works is available at the settlement website (also see the update below): https://secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup BACKGROUND A year ago, a group of autho...

The list of works eligible for the Anthropic copyright infringement settlement has been posted on the settlement website. I've updated my blog post on the settlement with inks, general info, and what happens next writerbeware.blog/2025/09/26/b...

Hey authors, the official list of Anthropic works is available for searching.

secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup

The Authors Guild's explanation of the Anthropic Settlement has been updated to include recent information.

Not yet. It's supposed to be released in searchable form on October 10.

We are writing to provide an update regarding copyright registration concerns in connection with the Anthropic class action settlement. As you may have heard, the settlement agreement for the Bartz v. Anthropic case has been filed for preliminary approval. The Association of American Publishers (AAP) has prepared a detailed press release available here and a list of FAQs available here. In reviewing our records, we discovered that U.S. copyright registration has not been obtained for some of our authors’ works. From what we currently understand, this was largely our mistake and we take full responsibility. If your work was excluded from the settlement for this reason, we will make you whole by paying you what you otherwise would have been paid under the settlement. We are also taking corrective action. Our team is conducting a thorough review to identify affected works and close any registration gaps. While this issue is understandably concerning, we want to reassure you that your work has always been protected by U.S. copyright law from the moment of its creation. Registration has implications in the context of lawsuits, but not for the fact of protection. We regret this error and are committed to making it right. Please reach out to copyrights@macmillan.com with any questions.

Since this was described as an official statement from their communications department, I am sharing it here.

It is, imo, the standard every publisher should be meeting immediately. I'm grateful to our team at Tor for being so on top of this. (And also Montlake who registered everything.)

As said below, knowledge is your greatest ally and your best defense--not just against scams, but misconceptions and mistakes. All writers need to be familiar with the basics of copyright.

My most recent article for SFWA's Planetside! Copyright is a complicated subject about which there are many myths and misconceptions...in this article, I try to untangle some of them.

I think that if you are trying to understand the Anthropic book settlement, and you are not doing it in light of the (extremely) failed Google book settlement from 2011, you will never be able to understand what is happening.

On eve of hearing, Judge Alsup “disappointed” proposed settlement leaves issues unresolved, including Works and Class. Also wants Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger, American Publishers CEO Maria Pallante to attend. On the eve of Monday’s hearing on the proposed class action settlement in Bartz v. Anthropic, Judge Alsup said he “is disappointed that counsel have left important questions to be answe…

On eve of settlement hearing, Judge Alsup issued order to say he's "disappointed" with missing details (e.g., Work and Class List) in proposed settlement in Bartz v. Anthropic. Also strongly recommends Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger and American Publishers CEO Maria Pallante be at the hearing in

AI company Anthropic agrees to pay $1.5B to settle lawsuit with authors If approved, the settlement would be the largest in the history of American copyright cases, according to a lawyer for the authors behind the lawsuit.

Last paragraph.

The settlement does specify that if more than 500,000 authors submit claims they will increase the pot by $3K per additional author.

I haven't seen any evidence of authors saying they will opt out but this just happened and there hasn't been much time.

And in many cases, the publisher will get a percentage, probably half. It remains to be seen how they will treat self-published and rights reverted books with no publisher.

This case isn't even about AI. It's about punishing piracy, which, I have to say, feels like retribution against all the decades of book stealing. In today's political climate, I think the AI tide has all but turned. Even now, I half expect Trump to try to intervene to prevent the settlement.

I remains to be seen whether they will be able to accommodate publications without a publisher -- self-published or rights reverted. There's a panel that's charged with determined edge cases and Mary Rasenberger is on it, so I have hopes. Best case is self-publishers get the publisher's share too.

I may have a mistaken impression of how much $3K really is these days, but it's more than many authors got for publication in the first place. It remains to be seen how it's divvied up, but I expect the publisher to get half, so it's even less, but for a prolific author is could still mean $$.

You will be allowed to opt out. If enough authors do that, the settlement won't be approved.

You will be allowed to opt out.

We're lucky to get anything, imo. It didn't have to work out this way.

Anthropic does have to destroy the LibGen and PiLiMi datasets after the expiration of any litigation preservation or other court orders.

$3,000 per book.

• In exchange, Anthropic will receive a past release only for conduct up to August 25, 2025. Claims arising out of conduct after August 25, 2025 won’t be released by the Settlement, nor will any claims (past or future) arising out of allegedly infringing outputs from Anthropic’s AI models.

• Anthropic will destroy the LibGen and PiLiMi datasets after the expiration of any litigation preservation or other court orders.

Bartz v. Anthropic class action settlement:

Subject to court approval, the principal terms are:
• Anthropic will pay the Class at least $1.5 billion dollars, plus interest. With around 500,000 works in the Class, this amounts to an estimated gross recovery of $3,000 per Class Work.

SFWA's Contracts Committee will review contracts and this service is not limited to SFWA members. Email contracts@sfwa.org.

James Grimmelmann was very helpful in navigating the Google Books Settlement and I'm happy to see him commenting intelligently about this one.

Anthropic, Authors Strike Tentative Settlement Deal in AI Copyright Suit. But Will It Be Approved? The deal looms as a potential milestone in the development of AI. But with tensions running hot between authors and the tech industry, lawyers say that getting a final deal approved may prove challeng...

A detailed overview of the many unknowns surrounding settlement in the Bartz v Anthropic class action, incl. the impact of dissenting voices, challenges to the class, and a look back at the Google Settlement and the lengthy timelines that may be involved www.wordsandmoney.com/anthropic-au...

You may be right. I'm basing my guess on the wording of the definition in the judge's order which included "book" and "with ISBN or ASIN". We'll know more (I hope) on Friday when they file a motion for preliminary court approval of the settlement. Meanwhile, sending your contact info makes sense.