Anthropic’s $1.5B copyright settlement is getting messy as judge delays approval
Summary
A federal judge delayed approval of Anthropic’s $1.5 billion copyright settlement because some authors and class members objected. They argue that lawyers are asking for much more money than the authors will receive and want the court to lower lawyer fees and increase payments to authors.Key Facts
- Anthropic agreed to a $1.5 billion settlement over unauthorized use of books to train AI.
- US District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin postponed final approval to review objections from some class members.
- Objectors claim lawyers want over $320 million in fees while authors might only get about $3,000 each.
- One author estimated lawyers’ pay could be $10,000–$12,000 per hour, which objectors see as excessive.
- Objectors argue lawyers’ fees should be based on the number of authors compensated, not the full settlement amount.
- Lawyers say claims cover over 92% of the 480,000 works involved in the settlement.
- Objectors want fairer lawyer fees to increase author payouts, suggesting a $70 million fee as an example.
- A group of 25 class members who opted out of the settlement filed a new lawsuit against Anthropic.
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