Anthropic’s $1.5 billion book piracy settlement approved by judge

# Anthropic’s $1.5 billion book piracy settlement approved by judge Source: [https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/968724/anthropic-authors-settlement-ai-copyright-approved](https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/968724/anthropic-authors-settlement-ai-copyright-approved) [Skip to main content](https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/968724/anthropic-authors-settlement-ai-copyright-approved#content) The $3,000 per book payment could be the ‘largest known copyright recovery in history\.’ The $3,000 per book payment could be the ‘largest known copyright recovery in history\.’ by Jul 21, 2026, 4:53 PM UTC   Image: The Verge [](https://www.theverge.com/authors/emma-roth) Emma Roth is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more\. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO\. A federal judge has signed off on Anthropic’s $1\.5 billion class action settlement with authors who accused the company of training its AI models on copyrighted books,[as reported earlier by*Reuters*](https://www.reuters.com/world/us-judge-approves-anthropics-15-billion-settlement-copyright-lawsuit-2026-07-20/)\. In[an order on Monday](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28503369-anthropic-settlement-final-approval/), Judge Araceli Martínez\-Olguín writes that the settlement will provide “meaningful relief,” offering authors around $3,000 for each book allegedly pirated by Anthropic\. The $1\.5 billion settlement is the “largest known copyright recovery in history,” according to[the law firm representing the plaintiffs](https://www.susmangodfrey.com/wins/court-grants-final-approval-of-historic-1-5-billion-ai-copyright-settlement/)\. A group of authors — Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson — first filed a copyright lawsuit against Anthropic in 2024\. While the now\-retired Judge William Alsup[granted Anthropic a partial victory](https://www.theverge.com/news/692015/anthropic-wins-a-major-fair-use-victory-for-ai-but-its-still-in-trouble-for-stealing-books)last year, he[approved a separate class action lawsuit](https://www.theverge.com/anthropic/709183/anthropic-class-action-lawsuit-pirated-books-authors-downloads)claiming the company engaged in the “Napster\-style downloading of millions of works\.”[Anthropic agreed to a $1\.5 billion settlement](https://www.theverge.com/anthropic/773087/anthropic-to-pay-1-5-billion-to-authors-in-landmark-ai-settlement)in September 2025, to which Judge Alsup later granted[preliminary approval](https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/us-judge-approves-15-billion-anthropic-copyright-settlement-with-authors-2025-09-25/)\. “We are pleased that more than 91% of authors and publishers covered by the settlement have claimed their share of the payment,” Anthropic general counsel Aparna Sridhar tells*Reuters*\. “We’re looking forward ​to bringing this matter to a close\.” Anthropic is still facing copyright lawsuits from[Chicken Soup for the Soul](https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/chicken-soup-soul-publisher-sues-tech-companies-over-ai-training-2026-03-18/)and[several other authors](https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/99347-authors-file-new-lawsuit-against-ai-companies-seeking-more-money.html)who argue that $3,000 per book isn’t enough\. **Follow topics and authors**from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates\. - Emma Roth ## The Verge Daily A free daily digest of the news that matters most\.