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Federal Judge Reviews $1.5B Settlement Over Pirated Books

9/9/2025

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Summary

Story summary

A federal judge is reviewing a $1.5 billion class-action settlement between Anthropic and authors over alleged piracy.
Each of the estimated 500,000 affected titles may receive about $3,000.
Judge William Alsup ruled that using pirated books infringes copyright, while lawfully obtained books may qualify as fair use.
This settlement could be the largest copyright recovery in U.S. history.
Payments will be made in four installments, beginning with $300 million after preliminary approval.

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Story summary

A federal judge is reviewing a $1.5 billion class-action settlement between Anthropic and authors over alleged piracy.
Each of the estimated 500,000 affected titles may receive about $3,000.
Judge William Alsup ruled that using pirated books infringes copyright, while lawfully obtained books may qualify as fair use.
This settlement could be the largest copyright recovery in U.S. history.
Payments will be made in four installments, beginning with $300 million after preliminary approval.