Anthropic agreed to pay $1.5 billion last year to settle a copyright class action lawsuit. A judge had ruled that training AI models on copyrighted books is legal under fair use. But downloading those books from pirate sites was not legal.
The settlement received final court approval in July 2026. That approval cleared the way for payments to start moving to authors.
Under the deal, authors of about 500,000 titles are set to receive $3,000 for each pirated book. The payment structure depends on the book's current status.
How the Payments Are Supposed to Work
If a book is still in print with a traditional publisher, the $3,000 is split evenly between the author and the publisher. If the book was self-published, or if the publisher let the book go out of print and returned the rights to the author, the author is owed the full amount.
That system depends on accurate records showing who currently holds the rights to each book. This week, some authors say those records are wrong.
Mystery and thriller author April Henry said HarperCollins claimed a share of one of her books. She said the rights to that book reverted to her at least 17 years ago.
Henry also said she received a credit alert the same day listing HarperCollins as her employer. She said the publisher was never her employer.
Authors Describe a Pattern of Errors
Victoria Strauss writes the blog Writers Beware. She said she has received a wave of complaints from authors this week.
She described two common problems. In some cases, publishers are claiming books they no longer have rights to. In other cases, publishers are claiming 100% of a payment when they are only entitled to half.
Strauss said she does not think publishers are acting with bad intent. She said poor recordkeeping is a more likely explanation. Some publishers have already told her they are working with Anthropic to fix the mistakes.
Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger spoke with the New York Times about the issue. She said she does not see this as publishers deliberately trying to take money from authors.
Rasenberger said the errors are more likely a result of confusing paperwork and a complicated settlement process. Strauss agreed that the complaints she has seen may only reflect a small part of the overall settlement.
But she said the number and repetition of the complaints stood out to her. She said the same exact errors keep showing up in different authors' reports.
Strauss said that pattern suggests the problem may be more widespread than a few isolated mistakes.
Agents Are Also Filing Claims
Publishers are not the only ones seeking a cut of the money. Strauss said several literary agencies have also filed claims on author payments.
She said this surprised her because agents do not typically hold legal rights to the books they help sell.
Author Courtney Milan, who writes under a pen name, criticized the practice directly on Bluesky. She said agents claiming a percentage of the settlement should not be doing so.
Milan and the Authors Guild have shared information on how authors can dispute incorrect claims. One key detail involves timing. To claim 100% of a payment, an author's rights reversion must have happened before August 10, 2022, the settlement's official download date.
Authors who believe their claims were filed incorrectly are being encouraged to review the settlement paperwork and file a dispute before payments are finalized.
