Judge Approves Anthropic’s $1.5 Billion Copyright Settlement; Only 350 Authors Opt Out

A judge has approved a $1.5 billion settlement between Anthropic and a group of authors, ending the largest copyright class-action ever certified. The settlement follows a court ruling that training AI on books was fair use, though the company’s unauthorized copying of works was likely not. Some authors opposed the deal, arguing that lawyers’ fees were too high and per-work payouts (estimated at $3,000) too low, but only 350 authors ultimately opted out to pursue separate lawsuits.