Bloomsbury set for payout from £1.1 billion Anthropic US copyright settlement

The publisher of Harry Potter and bestsellers by Sarah J Maas has revealed it is set for a payout from a record 1.5 billion dollar (£1.1 billion) settlement of a copyright class action in America against AI firm Anthropic.London-listed Bloomsbury said it would share in the settlement – said to be the largest known copyright payout in US history – following a lawsuit brought by authors who alleged that Claude chatbot firm Anthropic used books to train its AI models without permission or paying for the content.Bloomsbury said it has 14,087 titles listed within the settlement, for about 3,000 dollars (£2,243) for each work, which amounts to around 42.3 million dollars (£31.6 million), less legal fees and other expenses.The payout will be shared equally between authors and the publisher, with the settlement set to be spread over several payments over the final half of its financial year, Bloomsbury said.On Monday, US district judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin said the settlement provided “meaningful relief” to affected authors and publishers.The case began when bestselling novelist Andrea Bartz and two other authors filed the lawsuit in 2024.Around 91% of the 482,000 works covered in the suit have been claimed.Plaintiff attorney Justin Nelson said it was “the largest known copyright recovery in history”.It is the first major settlement out of dozens of AI copyright lawsuits being filed in the US on behalf of authors and news outlets, which are still going through the courts.Anthropic’s deputy general counsel, Aparna Sridhar, said in a written statement after the ruling: “We are pleased that more than 91% of authors and publishers covered by the settlement have claimed their share of the payment, and we’re looking forward to bringing this matter to a close.”Bloomsbury announced an AI licensing deal last year, which allows it to sell academic works to train up generative AI programmes.The firm said recently that more subject areas were now being considered for AI training.Authors have been given the opportunity to “opt-in” to the scheme and will be paid royalties if they decide to let their work be used.Read MoreRuss Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said the Anthropic settlement was a “positive pointer for the rest of the publishing industry given what it might mean for future AI licensing deals”.He added: “The influx of cash associated with the settlement will further bolster an already strong balance sheet.”