Authors Stand Firm Against Publishers and Agents’ Claims on Anthropic Settlement
Several authors who expected to receive a portion of Anthropic’s $1.5 billion copyright settlement were taken aback this week by messages indicating that others were also making claims on their earnings.
Last year, Anthropic resolved a copyright class action lawsuit after a judge determined that while using copyrighted materials to train AI models could fall under fair use, unlawfully copying those materials does not. The settlement was officially approved in July, paving the way for the distribution of payments.
As part of the settlement, authors of nearly half a million titles are set to receive $3,000 for each work that was illegally copied. If a book remains published by a traditional publisher, the payout will be shared equally between the author and the publisher. Conversely, for self-published works or those whose rights have reverted after going out of print, the author will receive the full amount.
However, many writers have taken to social media to express concerns that publishers are claiming more than their fair share of these settlement payments. For instance, mystery writer April Henry raised eyebrows when she questioned why HarperCollins was asserting rights over one of her books that had reverted at least 17 years ago, coinciding with her receiving a notification claiming they had been added as her employer, which was not the case.
On the well-known blog Writers Beware, Victoria Strauss discussed the influx of author complaints falling into two main categories: one involves publishers pursuing payments for works no longer under their rightful claim, and another involves publishers attempting to secure 100% of the payment when they’re only entitled to half.
While Strauss mentioned her hesitation to assume malice where poor record-keeping could be a plausible explanation, she noted that some publishers had already acknowledged these issues as mistakes and requested corrections from Anthropic.
Mary Rasenberger, CEO of the Authors Guild, echoed these sentiments, telling a reporter that she doesn’t view this as a “land grab” by publishers, nor does she believe they are intentionally trying to disadvantage authors. She sees the situation as an expected outcome of inadequate record management and a complicated settlement framework.
Strauss pointed out that the complaints she has observed are merely “a glimpse into a much larger issue,” highlighting that the unusually high number of complaints in recent days, coupled with the repetition of similar errors, indicates a more serious and systemic problem.
In addition to publishers, several literary agencies are also supposedly pursuing claims for these payments, which Strauss found surprising, given that agents do not hold rights to the works they represent.
Author Courtney Milan, who writes under a pen name, expressed her frustration on social media, stating, “It appears some agents are attempting to claim a share of the Anthropic settlement, and I don’t believe they should be doing this. This is unacceptable!”
Milan and the Authors Guild have also provided insights on how authors can contest their payment distributions, raising concerns about the timeline of rights reversion. To claim 100% of a settlement for a specific work, the rights must have reverted before August 10, 2022, the designated “download date” in the settlement.
