Authors push back as publishers and agents seek share of Anthropic settlement
Authors say publishers seem to be claiming more than their fair share of settlement payments.
Authors are raising concerns as publishers and agents seek a share of Anthropic's $1.5 billion copyright settlement. Anthropic reached a deal last year, following a judge's ruling that training AI models on copyrighted material is legal under fair use, but not pirating it. The settlement, approved in July, provides $3,000 to authors of nearly 500,000 titles for each pirated work.
If a book is still in print with a traditional publisher, the payment is split 50-50 between author and publisher. However, authors have noticed that some publishers are claiming more than their fair share.
April Henry, a mystery and thriller author, questioned why HarperCollins claimed a payment for a book that reverted back 17 years ago. Writers Beware, a popular blog, has received complaints from authors about publishers seeking 100% payment for books where they only have a 50% claim. Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger dismissed these claims as publishers making mistakes due to poor recordkeeping. However, Strauss acknowledged that the reports of widespread and systemic issues suggest otherwise.
Some literary agencies are also making payment claims, which has surprised authors. Courtney Milan, a self-published author, called out agents for attempting to claim percentages on the settlement, stating that agents are not rightsholders in the books they sell. Authors are advised to dispute their payment allocations, with a tricky issue being that rights reversion needs to have happened before August 10, 2022.
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