Anthropic, the artificial intelligence firm backed by Amazon and Google, has agreed to a $1.5 billion settlement to resolve a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by a collective of authors, including Margaret Atwood and Jonathan Franzen. The agreement, reached September 6, 2024, addresses claims that anthropic unlawfully used copyrighted books to train its large language models.The lawsuit, initially brought in September 2023, alleged that Anthropic’s AI systems-including its Claude chatbot-were built using billions of copyrighted works without permission, violating authors’ exclusive rights.This settlement marks a notable moment in the ongoing legal battles surrounding the use of copyrighted material in the development of generative AI, potentially setting a precedent for future cases and influencing how AI companies approach data sourcing.
The authors alleged that Anthropic “copied their works” to create a competing product. The complaint detailed how Anthropic’s models ingested and learned from copyrighted books, effectively creating derivative works without compensating the original authors.The class-action suit sought damages for the unauthorized use of their intellectual property.
Anthropic confirmed the settlement in a statement,noting the agreement includes a licensing framework for authors to opt-in to having their works used for AI training in the future. The company stated it is “committed to supporting a vibrant ecosystem for writers and creators.” The settlement requires court approval and is expected to be finalized in the coming months.
The case highlights the broader concerns surrounding copyright and AI, as generative AI models rely on massive datasets-frequently enough including copyrighted material-to function. Similar lawsuits have been filed against OpenAI and Meta, raising essential questions about fair use, intellectual property rights, and the future of creative work in the age of artificial intelligence.
