April 17, 2026
Yesterday, class counsel in the Bartz v. Anthropic lawsuit filed papers apprising the court that 440,490 of the 482,460 eligible works had been claimed—a remarkable 91.3 percent rate (the typical class action claim rate is around 10 percent).
The final claims rate vastly surpasses the 54 percent rate reported in counsel’s Motion for Final Approval of Settlement filed on March 19, 2026, 11 days before the claims filing deadline of March 30, 2026, indicating that a large number of claims came in at the very end of the claims process. The Guild had made an aggressive push to get the word out to authors and remind them to get their claims in before the deadline, and we are pleased to see such a high turnout.
The high rate of claim, however, means that the forecasts about a bigger payout based on the March 19 report of 54 percent will not happen, and the actual payout will likely end up being closer to the original $3,000 per work figure. When counsel filed their motion for approval, 264,809 of the 482,460 works had been claimed; if no more works had been claimed, the payout per work would have been around $4,876 because the unclaimed works would go back in the pot and the claimed works would get more. Now, due to the higher number of works claimed in the end, the pot will be divided among more works and each work, consequently, will get less than the estimate based on the March 19 claim rate.
Before payouts to class members (authors and publishers), the total settlement of $1.5 billion will be reduced by over-the-top expenses—attorneys’ fees, administrative costs, reserves, etc. The exact amount of these expenses will be determined by the court, but in their March 19 motion, class counsel requested 12.5 percent of the settlement fund ($187,500,000.00) for attorneys’ fees plus $2,779,950.26 for the reimbursement of litigation expenses. While $187.5 million is a fairly high number, 12.5 percent of the pot is an uncommonly low share of attorney’s fees in class actions, where fees range around 30 percent; it also represents a significant reduction from counsel’s initial ask of 20 percent of the settlement fund.
In addition, counsel is also seeking an $18,220,000 cost reserve to cover future expenses and the settlement administrators’ fees, and $50,000 service awards for each of the three class representatives. These requested deductions total roughly $208.6 million, leaving a net settlement fund of roughly $1.29 billion for the class distributions to be made uniformly on a per-work basis. Dividing this net settlement fund of $1.29 billion by the 440,490 claimed works yields an estimated base payout of approximately $2,931 per work; however, this figure does not include interest that is already accruing on the settlement funds, which will increase the payout amount and assumes the court does not reduce any of the requested costs and fees. Once the interest is factored in (and any cost reductions), the final payout amount will likely be slightly higher.
Requested deductions from 3/19 motion
Remember that the per work payout will be split among rights holders—authors, publishers, and any co-authors.
For non-education works where a publisher holds rights and there are no co-authors, the payout will be split 50-50 if the claimants selected the default option when filing the claim. If the claimants selected an alternative option when filing the claim (or for education works, which are not eligible for the default option), the payout will be split according to the contract. Disputes between claimants will be resolved first by the Settlement Administrator facilitating mutual agreement, and failing that, adjudication by the court-appointed Special Master.
Another important note: An author who did not file their own claim will still be paid their share if their publisher filed a claim. The number of claimed works means at least one of the rights holders in a work filed a claim, thereby triggering payment. Unclaimed works are those for which none of the rights holders filed a claim. These works are taken out of the settlement fund before calculation of payout for the claimed works.
The final approval hearing is currently scheduled for May 14, 2026. At this hearing the judge will consider the claim rates, total opt-outs, and objections from class members. Under the judge’s order, class members who formally filed objections will have the opportunity to speak at the hearing via a provided Zoom link.
Payouts to class members will only be issued after the judge grants final approval and any subsequent appeals are fully resolved. There is currently no exact timeline for this, but payments will likely commence in the late fall at the earliest. Note that Anthropic is paying into the $1.5 billion settlement fund over time, so not all of the funds will be dispersed at once.
The $1.5 billion minimum settlement is being funded by Anthropic in multiple installments. The first $300 million has been already deposited in an interest-bearing escrow account. The next $300 million tranche is due within five days of final approval; an additional $450 million before September 25, 2026; and a final $450 million payment before September 25, 2027. Interest is currently accruing and will be factored into the final payout.
We will update you on the final approval hearing, next steps, and new timelines.
