Copyright Isn't Dead—It Just Cost Anthropic $1.5 Billion

A California federal judge has granted preliminary approval to Anthropic's $1.5 billion settlement in a copyright class action brought by authors—one of the largest AI legal rulings to date.

Key Details:

Settlement covers 482,460 books downloaded from pirate libraries (Library Genesis and Pirate Library Mirror)
Authors to receive approximately $3,000 per book
Anthropic must destroy all original and copied files
Judge William Alsup called the settlement "fair" while noting the complexity of the claims process
Judge Alsup emphasized the need for "excellent" legal work to manage this large-scale settlement "ethically," expressing confidence in the legal teams involved.

Why This Matters: This landmark case proves that copyright protections remain robust in the AI era. Companies can't simply train on pirated content and hope for the best—there are real consequences.

The settlement sends a clear message: AI innovation must respect intellectual property rights. As the industry races forward, legal accountability isn't just catching up—it's already here.