Writers challenge Anthropic's $1.5 billion copyright settlement approved July 2026
Writers are speaking up about problems with Anthropic's massive $1.5 billion copyright settlement, approved in July 2026.
The deal was supposed to pay authors and publishers $3,000 per pirated book, split for in-print titles, or paid fully to authors if the book is self-published or out-of-print with rights reverted before August 10, 2022.
But now, some publishers are trying to claim money for books whose rights have reverted, and some literary agencies are also making claims.
Authors allege publishers, agencies claim payments
Authors like April Henry have called out big names like HarperCollins for claiming payments on books whose rights went back to the author years ago.
Victoria Strauss from Writers Beware shared that some publishers, and even literary agencies who aren't rightsholders, are making questionable claims.
While a few blame this on messy record-keeping, the pattern suggests deeper issues in how these settlements are handled.
Authors are being encouraged to challenge any suspicious claims, especially if their rights reverted before August 10, 2022.