The parties have today proposed a settlement of the Bartz v. Anthropic AI copyright class action case.
AI company Anthropic PBC would pay the plaintiffs at least $1.5 billion (with a b). The parties estimate there are about 500,000 copyrighted works at issue, so that would mean $3,000 per work, but that's before attorneys' fees are deducted.
Anthropic will destroy its libraries of pirated works.
Anthropic will receive a release of liability for its activities through August 25, 2025. However, this is only an "input side" settlement, and there is no release of liability for any copyright-infringing AI outputs.
The specific attorneys' fees award has yet to be requested, but it could theoretically be as much as 25% of the gross award, or $375 million. Anthropic can oppose any award request, and I personally don't think the court will award anything like that much.
Now the proposal has to go before the judge and obtain court approval, and that can be far from a rubber stamp.
Stay tuned to ASLNN - The Apprehensive_Sky Legal News NetworkSM for more developments!
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