I keep seeing "all authors use AI, the real issue is they're being forced to be sneaky about it" headlines.

Full stop No. This is a lie peddled for normalization. It's schoolyard-level pressure tactics "C'mon, all the cool kids are already doing it. We won't tell. It's fine. We're on your side."

COURT: Supreme Court of British Columbia, Vancouver Registry DATE FILED: May 23, 2025 A proposed class action lawsuit has been filed in Vancouver against Anthropic PBC. The plaintiff alleges that Anthropic PBC violated copyright held by Canadian authors when training its large language models. Specifically, the plaintiff alleges that Anthropic PBC downloaded “Books3” dataset. This dataset contains large amounts of copyrighted works, including books and articles by Canadian authors. The plaintiff alleges that Anthropic PBC used and unlawfully copied and shared these copyrighted works, and did not license or otherwise obtain permission to do so from the copyright holders. If you have any questions about the case or information that you think may assist our investigation, please contact us by clicking on the contact button or calling the number below. Any communication is strictly confidential. Contact: Oliver Pulleyblank Phone: 604.697.2480 ext. 240

Canadian authors, if you aren't eligible for the US Anthropic lawsuit bc you didn't register US copyright, we have our own class action suit! It doesn't rely on registering copyright and you're included in the class by default 🇨🇦

Sign up for updates here: www.cfmlawyers.ca/class-action...

The end

I copied this all directly from my notes without checking a thing, so if it's confusing or incomplete or just incorrect, that's why. IANAL etc

Claims relating to *output* of the LLM are NOT released. If you stay in the settlement, you release all claims as of August 2025 & earlier. Anthropic claims it did not use these works in the LLM output. If Anthropic takes your book in the future (post 8/2025), you can sue. Check the FAQ on the site

...claims you have against Anthropic (for these works in this time period, under these conditions, etc), so if you join this settlement than you cannot sue on these same claims.

Does participating in the settlement indicate you agree that it was fair use? No, doesn't mean class members agree with the ruling (just as Anthropic is not agreeing they are thieves, grrrr) & doesn't preclude authors participating in other lawsuits. It DOES release...

If you get multiple notification emails with multiple unique IDs, you can use any of them. (Multiples were sent out in an effort to make sure the rights holders were contacted; the unique IDs just pre-fill some information for you)

If your book is in the Atlantic database but not in the class database: this is because The Atlantic pulled titles from a different dataset than LibGen (Anthropic pulled works in 2021, Atlantic pulled after that)

Heirs: you can file a claim as an heir

If your novels already shows a claim submitted, and you didn't submit it (or are trying to re-submit), contact the Admin.
If you don't get an answer from Admin, then follow up with counsel (Rachel or Michael)

If the works list (on settlement site) misidentifies books or shows discrepanciy: Every line on the works list is 1 work, so if there's more than one ISBN listed there it's still just 1 work. You can note discrepancies in your claim. If the work has multiple ISBNS, put any of them on the claim form

Precedent: This settlement is not precedental in a legal sense (not binding, not law) but it does influence other parties' future actions and other cases.

Other lawsuits? Currently there are several other lawsuits like this against other entities, go to Author's Guild site to see.

Settling vs opting out: check Authors Guild blog for info, and the settlement website has instructions for opting out

Work for hire: you the writer are not the owner, so cannot file claim. But be careful to check the contract to make sure it's a true work-for-hire - many contracts describe it as work for hire but it's actually not legally that. Reach out to Authors Guild with your contract to verify your rights

Claim corrections: if you got something wrong when filing your claim, you CAN change it - you're not locked in to what you filed, just contact the admin or counsel via email/phone.

Rights have reverted to author? If you wish to claim something other than 50/50 (because your rights have reverted to you) then specify that in your claim. It will depend on the terms of the reversion, so contact the admin to go through that piece of your publishing contract

The default allocation (between author & publisher) is a generic 50/50 split because many but not all publishing contracts have a provision regarding copyright infringement recovery, and the boiler plate is usually "equally split among rightsholders." But each contract is different, so check yours!

Interest may be earned (if it takes time to disburse $) & the named plaintiffs who brought the suit will potentially get more if the court approves. In sum, right now there's no way to say exactly how much a claimant will receive, because there are several as-yet-unknown factors that determine this

Net payment & attorney's fees: The settlement calls for $1.5bn to go to the common fund, but attorney fees and reimbursement of expenses come from that fund first (subject to court approval.) Then the remainder is distributed among class members, so fewer claims means more money per claimant.

Lotsa books? If you have a bulk claim (20+ works) and you don't want to fill out individual claim forms, contact the settlement Admin (info@AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com) and they can help you to file a bulk claim.

Also each class member is paid separately out of the fund, so it's both cleaner and more sure to file your own claim.

Do I need to file a claim as an author or just let my publisher do it? Counsel encourages authors to submit their own claim, in case the publisher doesn't. Even if the pub does file a claim, they can be wrong - so you should put your own info in.

Contact counsel if you need help understanding your contract. (For education works, there is no default split, it all depends on the original contract.)

Claims must be submitted by March 30. If your pub (or other rights co-holder) opts out, you will be notified For non-education works, there's a default 50% between authors and publishers, but if your contract specifies a different amount of split, then you can claim more than 50-50.

If books have not been registered for copyright then they are not part of the settlement.
Go to anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com and look up your works to see if they are included.

If there is no appeal, payments should begin this fall (initial payments may be partial, with the balance paid when settlement fund is fully funded)

Q&A

When do payments go out? Depends on when settlement is approved, and if there is an appeal. If no appeal, then we'll know about 30 days after the final approval. Disbursement also depends on when the settlement is funded, but it can be no later than 2027.

(4 cont) If a co-rightsholder for opts out your work, then your work will be opted out of the Settlement. If no other rightsholder for your work does anything, you will not receive a payment from the Settlement & you give up your rights to sue Anthropic for the claims this Settlement resolves.

4. Do nothing. This is a non-reversionary settlement, so even if a rights-holder does not claim their award, Anthropic still has to pay the money into the common settlement fund. If another rightsholder for your work files the claim, you may receive payment.