Author Steaphan KaySep 26

If your book(s) were, or are pirated on LibGen and subsequently used by Anthropic to train its AI models, the courts have ordered them to pay a minimum of $1.5B. Authors might/could/perhaps get an estimated payment of $3,000 per work (based on current estimates of the # of pirated works trained on).

But you definitely won't get your $$$ unless you register your claim: https://secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/register

#Author #IndieAuthor #IndieAuthors #SelfPublishing #Writing #WritersCoffeeClub

Show threadSuzyShearerSep 26

@steaphan

Doesn't apply to authors outside the US, unless they'd previously lodged copywrite with the US dept.

I'm Australian and had 20 books stolen by Meta. They took books from pirate sites and then they used some legalese to escape paying authors one cent.

Show threadEdward HasbrouckSep 27
@SuzyShearer @steaphan _ Doesn't apply to *any* authors unless copyright was timely registered with the US Copyright Office (a formality prohibited by the Berne Convention on Copyright, but the US thumbs its nose at international law). And it only applies to a small fraction of the works copied, even if registered. More from the NWU: https://nwu.org/anthropic/
Settlement of AI lawsuit gets tentative approval; some writers will get paid, but mostly only if they make claims | NWU

On September 25, 2025, Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California gave preliminary (tentative) approval to a proposed $1.5 billion settlement of some of the claims raised in a class-action copyright infringement lawsuit against Anthropic PBC, the developer of the “Claude” generative AI language model and subscription services.

NWU |
Show threadKevin Karhan 
@ehasbrouck @SuzyShearer @steaphan in practise all #ClassActions only apply to legal U.S. residents.
Oct 3 at 12:58amWeb
Show threadEdward HasbrouckOct 3
@kkarhan @SuzyShearer @steaphan - I'm not sure where you are getting this limitation form, but it is not correct. Non-residents can and do participate as individuals *and* as class members in lawsuits in US courts. But in this case, only works registered with US Copyright Office are eligible for settlement payments, but publishers and/or authors can be anywhere in the world.
Show threadKevin Karhan Oct 3

@ehasbrouck @SuzyShearer @steaphan If that was true my own university would've demanded their #OtherOSsettlement cheque for their huge #PS3 cluster...

  • Along with many hobbyists I knew at the time…

Non-#US residents don't get a #ClassActions' payouts! They won't even get a cheque that they can actually deposit, much less one that'll cover the processing fees even before cheques have been dead [since 2005 (last issued chequebooks) 2007 (last checkbooks expired in validity)]…

  • And even if they did that doesn't fix the problem… Which is why I think those companies should be forced to "undo the harm caused" and "rollback the changes they got #ClassAction'd for" instead (cuz in any working juristiction that's what they've to do in cases their tactic gets declared illegal)…

I'm pretty shure @Bundesverband has never heard or seen of a "Class Action Settlement Cheque" being granted to a Non-US - citizen residing in Germany.

  • Also 99,9% of all settlements won't even cover the cost of mail correspondence and money transfer.
Show threadKevin Karhan Oct 3

@ehasbrouck @SuzyShearer @steaphan and to go back on topic places like #Germany have commercial #Copyright with rights reserved ON EVERYTHING for 70+ years post-mortem unless explicitly licensed under diffferent terms as well as non-disavowability of authorship (aka. "Public Domain") because #ConsequenceFreeSpeech IS bad…

  • Given that it's most likely any "collecting society" would just pocket any applicable settlements *unless the authors explicitly ain't members...

But that's all #NotLegalAdvice and I hope @wbs_legal as a licensed law firm spechalized on media and IP laws to pickup these news and thoroughly debunk #ClassActions from the #USA...

Edward Hasbrouck (@[email protected])

@[email protected] @[email protected] _ Doesn't apply to *any* authors unless copyright was timely registered with the US Copyright Office (a formality prohibited by the Berne Convention on Copyright, but the US thumbs its nose at international law). And it only applies to a small fraction of the works copied, even if registered. More from the NWU: https://nwu.org/anthropic/

The Union Place
Show threadAuthor Steaphan KayOct 3

@kkarhan @ehasbrouck @SuzyShearer @wbs_legal

In the US, this supports the tip for authors to always register a copyright for their works, I've heard a lot authors state that they don't because of the the implicit copyright protection from making a work public. There is less legal cover with implicit copyright. KDP makes it very difficult to recover an author account when thieves pirate and republish.

Illegal (US) AI training on published works enforces the call to ALWAYS register copyright.

Show threadKevin Karhan Oct 3

@steaphan @ehasbrouck @SuzyShearer @wbs_legal see, that's the difference because in #Germany the users if #copyrighted materials have to evidence that they properly licensed it, down to the point that #CollectingSocieties will demand #royalties unless the artist is evidently not a member nor covered indirectly by international agreements.

  • Sadly that also means that artists need to self-d0x with their "legal name" to publish stuff under more permissive licenses (i.e. @creativecommons ) and not have their licensors get rentseek'd by said "collecting societies".

So yeah not much better, just different...

  • Personally I'd love to start a radio station with non-#GEMA music only...