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October 15, 2025

The Anthropic settlement: what Australian authors need to know

The US $1.5 billion Anthropic class action settlement has been preliminarily approved and a searchable Works List has now been published for authors and illustrators to check whether they might be members of the class.

Australian authors and illustrators may be included in the settlement and therefore entitled to payment – we encourage you to search the Works List to see if your books are included. The settlement fund covers approximately US $3,000 per included work, which will be split among the rights-holders – including both authors and publishers. 

If you find your work listed, you can review your legal rights and options on the settlement website. You should also inform your publisher or agent. Opt outs are due by 7 January 2026 and claim forms by 23 March 2026. 

We also strongly encourage you to let us know if your works are included by completing our form – we need to understand how many Australian creators have been impacted so we can better advocate for you.

FILL OUT OUR FORM

Background

The class action was brought against AI company, Anthropic, by a group of authors (Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Johnson) who alleged the company used their books to train AI models, without permission or payment. These books included work from pirate websites, such as LibGen and PiLiMi.

Anthropic was facing billions of dollars in damages for using pirated books before the preliminary approval of the settlement.

This case represents just one of around 50 cases before the US courts regarding the issue of AI companies using authors’ books without consent or compensation.

The class definition

Not all authors whose works were included in the pirated-books database, LibGen, will be included in the Works List, primarily because of the narrowness of the class definition.

To qualify for the class, your book must:

  • Have been downloaded by Anthropic from LibGen or PiLiMi
  • Have an ISBN or ASIN
  • Have been registered with the US Copyright Office within 3 months of publication OR have been registered within 5 years of publication and before the download date of 10 August 2022.

Where do I go for more information?

If you have questions about the settlement, you can contact the Settlement Administrator or Class Counsel via the contact information at the bottom of the settlement website.

The US Authors Guild has published a useful webpage on the settlement covering submitting claim forms, splits between authors and publishers, what to do if your works are not on the list, how to check whether your book was registered with the US Copyright Office, and more.

The US Authors Guild will also run a free online session about the settlement – you can register here. Even if you cannot make it at the time, recordings are typically made available after Guild events.

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