Authors expecting payments from Anthropic’s $1.5 billion copyright settlement have reported receiving notices that publishers, and in some cases literary agents, are also claiming a share of their payouts, raising concerns about how funds are being distributed. The settlement, finalized in July after a court ruled that training AI on copyrighted material is legal but pirating that material is not, entitles authors of nearly 500,000 titles to $3,000 per pirated work, split with publishers when a book remains in print or awarded fully to authors when rights have reverted.
Author April Henry and others have described publishers claiming rights to books whose rights reverted years earlier, while writer and blogger Victoria Strauss said she has received numerous complaints involving both improper full-rights claims and incorrect 100% payment requests. Strauss said the pattern of repeated, identical errors suggests a systemic issue rather than isolated mistakes, though she noted some publishers have already asked Anthropic to correct the errors.
Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger said she does not believe publishers are deliberately trying to shortchange authors, attributing the issue instead to poor recordkeeping and a confusing settlement process. Author Courtney Milanseparately criticized reports of literary agencies attempting to claim settlement funds, noting agents hold no rights to the underlying works. Guidance on disputing incorrect claims has since been shared by Milan and the Authors Guild.
