Authors fight for higher payouts from Anthropic’s $1.5B copyright settlement

A significant development has emerged in the ongoing legal battle regarding Anthropic’s staggering $1.5 billion settlement related to widespread book piracy used to train artificial intelligence. Several authors and members of the class have voiced their objections, prompting a federal judge to postpone the final approval of the settlement. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin refused to swiftly approve what is considered the largest copyright settlement in U.S. history. She expressed a desire to thoroughly understand the reasons behind the objections and the choices of some class members to opt out of the agreement. The authors were asked to address the concerns raised by objectors, who have pointed out that the legal fees appear disproportionately high compared to the compensation being offered to authors. Among the objections, many have criticized the legal team's request for over $320 million in fees, while authors are only projected to receive around $3,000 each. Some objectors have urged the court to delay the approval process until a more equitable compensation structure is established. "Every dollar that Counsel takes from the Settlement fund is one that is not given to those actually harmed," stated Pierce Story, an objector and author of two works involved in the settlement. Story has argued that the proposed legal fees translate to hourly rates between $10,000 and $12,000, which he deems excessive. He referenced a previous T-Mobile case where the 8th Circuit Court noted that no reasonable class member would agree to such inflated fees. He has further accused the legal team of failing to uphold their promise to align their compensation with the payouts for class members. As many authors eligible for compensation have yet to register, Story expressed concern that the compensation sought by lawyers is tied to the entire settlement fund, potentially leading to many deserving authors missing out on payments.