Agents, publishers are making claims on authors' Anthropic lawsuit payments
What's the story
Authors expecting their share of Anthropic's $1.5 billion copyright settlement have been surprised by emails informing them of third-party claims on their payments. The settlement was reached after a judge ruled that training AI models on copyrighted material is legal under fair use doctrine, but pirating such material isn't. The deal was approved in July, paving the way for payments to begin.
Payment details
Authors were set to receive $3,000 for each pirated work
The settlement stipulates that authors of nearly 500,000 titles will receive $3,000 for each pirated work.
If the book is still in print with a traditional publisher, the amount will be split equally between author and publisher.
In cases where the book was self-published or rights were reverted by allowing it to go out-of-print, the entire payment should go to the author.
Disputes arise
Authors are speaking out on social media
Authors have taken to social media to raise concerns that some publishers are claiming more than their fair share of payments.
Mystery and thriller author April Henry questioned HarperCollins's claim on one of her books that had reverted back at least 17 years ago.
Victoria Strauss from the blog Writers Beware also reported two types of complaints: publishers claiming payments for works they no longer have a legitimate claim on and those seeking full payment when only entitled to half.
Industry response
Settlement process is confusing, says Guild CEO
Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger told The New York Times that she doesn't see this as "a grab by the publishers" and doesn't believe they're "specifically trying to screw any author over."
She argued that these issues stem from poor record-keeping and a confusing settlement process.
Strauss also noted that some publishers have already said this is a mistake they've asked Anthropic to fix.
Agency claims
Literary agencies are also getting in on the action
In addition to publishers, some literary agencies are also making claims on the payments.
Strauss expressed surprise at this development, as "agents are not rightsholders in the books that they sell."
Author Courtney Milan was more direct in her criticism of agents trying to claim percentages on the Anthropic settlement. She said, "I do not REMOTELY think they should do this."