Anthropic Settlement: Authors' Payments Disputed

Authors expecting payments from Anthropic's $1.5 billion copyright settlement are receiving surprising emails. These emails indicate that other parties are making claims on their money. Anthropic settled a class action suit last year. A judge ruled that while training AI on copyrighted material is fair use, pirating that material is not. The deal was approved in July, allowing payments to begin. The settlement terms state that authors of nearly 500,000 titles will get $3,000 for each pirated work. If a book is in print with a traditional publisher, the money splits 50-50 between author and publisher. If the book was self-published or out-of-print, the author should receive the full payment. However, writers report on social media that publishers appear to be claiming more than their rightful share. Mystery author April Henry shared that HarperCollins claimed a book that reverted to her 17 years ago. Victoria Strauss from Writers Beware notes two main issues: publishers claiming works they no longer own, and publishers seeking 100% payment when only entitled to 50%. While some suggest poor record-keeping, the high number of similar reports indicates a potentially widespread problem. Literary agencies are also reportedly making claims, despite not being rightsholders. This situation highlights the complexities and potential disputes that can arise in large-scale copyright settlements involving numerous parties.