Bartz v. Anthropic Settlement: FAQs

While the Copyright Act allows courts to award statutory damages of at least $750 and up to $150,000 per infringed work when the infringement is willful—as is the case here—the maximum is rarely awarded, especially when a large number of works are involved. Trials are unpredictable, lengthy, and extremely costly. Even if a jury awarded damages at the higher end, the defendant would almost certainly seek to have it reduced and appeal a final judgment, which could delay recovery for years. By settling, the plaintiffs secured a strong payout without the risks of trial, avoided years of delay through appeals, and achieved a certain, immediate result that sends a powerful signal to the industry that piracy is costly. Settlements also give authors compensation more quickly and encourage licensing, since AI companies now know they cannot simply take authors’ works without paying.

No. The settlement does not give Anthropic—or any AI company—permission to use pirated books going forward. It only resolves Anthropic’s liability for past use of books. In fact, the agreement requires Anthropic to destroy all copies in its possession.

The 7 million figure refers to the estimated total number of copies of books Anthropic downloaded from piracy sites. According to the court’s summary judgment order, Anthropic downloaded 5 million books from LibGen and approximately 2 million from PiLiMi. However, even aside from duplicates, not all of these books qualify for the class. The class is limited to books that (1) have an ISBN or ASIN, (2) were registered with the U.S. Copyright Office within five years of publication, and (3) were registered before Anthropic downloaded them (or within three months of publication). Duplicates were removed, as were foreign editions, which often lack ISBNs and/or registration. Many books in the dataset were never registered, were registered too late to qualify, or otherwise lacked ISBNs or ASINs.

The Atlantic’s dataset was compiled in March 2025; Anthropic downloaded books much earlier, in 2021 and 2022, and no later than August 10, 2022. Not all books on LibGen at the time were necessarily downloaded. The class in this case is limited to books Anthropic actually downloaded during those timeframes. Your book may also be excluded if it lacked copyright registration (as required for the class) and/or ISBNs/ASINs.

Check the settlement website www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com for the searchable Works List.

This settlement does not legally bind or control the outcomes of other lawsuits against AI companies. Each case proceeds on its own facts, legal arguments, and timeline.

Yes. Being part of this settlement does not prevent you from joining or benefiting from other cases against different defendants. Each lawsuit is separate, and this settlement only resolves claims in this case against Anthropic.

Settlement payments are generally considered taxable income by the IRS and should be reported on your tax return.

Beginning October 2, 2025, you can check the searchable Works List to see if your works are included in the settlement. If so, you can complete the Claim Form on the website. You should also receive a formal class notice by mail and/or email from the Settlement Administrator. If you already filed a Claim Form online, you do not need to also respond to the notice. Direct notice will be completed by November 24, 2025 (the “Notice End Date”), though many authors may hear sooner.

A searchable Works List is available on the settlement website at www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com. If your title is listed, you are in the class for that work and may file a claim.

Yes. The Settlement Administrator will complete direct mail and email notice by November 24, 2025. Many authors will receive notice earlier, and you can also confirm inclusion by searching the Works List now.

The Court will hold a final approval hearing on April 22, 2026—after the Claims Deadline of March 23, 2026. The Settlement Administrator will calculate distributions by June 11, 2026 (within 80 days after the Claims Deadline). Payments will start sometime after that, depending on whether appeals are filed and on Anthropic’s payments into the Settlement Fund. Payment will be made by the method you select in the Claim Form (e.g., ACH, Zelle, or check). The earliest you can expect payment is June 2026, but there may be delays in the event of appeals or should other issues arise.

Yes. You must file a Claim Form to ensure you receive payment. On the form, you will choose whether to accept the default 50/50 split (not available for educational books) and select your payment method. If your publisher (or co-author, if applicable) files first, the Administrator will notify you and may still send you a check for your share even if you don’t file—but you will not be able to challenge splits already established during the claims process. Unclaimed checks may be reallocated after 18 months. Filing your own claim is the best way to protect your interests.

You can file online at the settlement website (preferred) or by mail, fax, or email

If your translation is on the list AND if you are entitled to receive royalties from the publisher of your translation, you would be eligible for the settlement award as a “beneficial owner.” If, however, you received a lump sum for the contract, such as a translators’ fee—and that is the only payment you are entitled to under the contract—then you will not receive any award since you won’t be considered a “beneficial owner.” By definition, a “beneficial owner” must have a right to receive royalty or ongoing economic benefit from the exploitation of the work.

Complicated questions of ownership—such as how to allocate payments where multiple parties, including the original author, may have overlapping or unclear interests—may be resolved by the Settlement Administrator or, if needed, by the Special Master.

If you believe in good faith that you are entitled to a share of the settlement, please file the claim.

Probably not, but check your contract. The class covers only books that were registered with the Copyright Office during the specified time period and only books that have an ISBN or ASIN number. In most cases, the publisher registers an anthology as a collective work—a specific type of copyright that covers only the selection, coordination, and arrangement of the individual contributions. The registration does not cover the individual contributions themselves (e.g., the text of a short story) if the copyrights in them are still owned by the authors. This means that your individual contribution would need to have been registered separately to be covered by the class. And even if it was registered separately, it would need to have its own ISBN or ASIN number, which is unlikely for short stories, essays, and other short works.

Probably not. Under copyright law, a beneficial owner of a work must have previously been a legal owner of that work. The authors of works in an anthology were legal owners of the copyrights in their individual contributions, but were never legal owners of the copyright in the anthology as a whole.

No. Do not enter your ISBN or your Copyright Registration number here.

The Unique ID is a code assigned by the Settlement Administrator and sent to you with your official class notice (by email and/or mail). When you receive that notice, you’ll see the Unique ID printed on it—use that code in the Unique ID field. These notices will be sent in late November. You can wait until you get the notice and Unique ID or file now by clicking “I don’t have a Unique ID.” Your claim will be received and processed just the same. If you already filed without a Unique ID and later receive one, you do not need to re-file. The important thing is to file your claim before the deadline (March 23, 2026).

Some authors have reported finding narrators, audio producers, and publishers in their records from the Works List Lookup Tool on the Settlement website. If you see a narrator, audiobook publisher, or producer listed next to your work in the lookup tool, don’t be alarmed—they are not typically getting a share from the settlement. This happened because the database sometimes pulled in information from audiobook ISBNs in addition to the print book’s ISBN.

In reality, the underlying copyright registrations for books (“TX” registrations) almost never list narrators. The official Works List itself distinguishes between copyright-registered authors (those listed on the U.S. Copyright Office registration) and identified authors (names pulled from ISBN databases). For the lookup tool, these fields were merged to avoid confusion—though unfortunately it led to narrator names showing up in some records.

Bottom line: audiobook narrators and producers are not typically entitled to any of the settlement money for your book. Their names showing up in the lookup tool will typically have no effect on your ownership or your right to file a claim.