Notice of $1.5 Billion Proposed Class Action Settlement
Between Authors & Publishers and Anthropic PBC
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Bartz v. Anthropic PBC, No. 3:24-cv-05417-WHA
A court authorized this Notice.
This is not an advertisement or a solicitation from a lawyer.
● Please note that if you earlier visited the Settlement Website, some answers to common questions may have
since been revised by the District Court, such as to Questions 16 and 26 below. This notice and this statement
were ordered by the District Court on November 18, 2025. Please carefully review all information provided.
● A Settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit claiming that Anthropic infringed protected
copyrights by downloading works in two allegedly pirated online datasets called Library Genesis (LibGen)
and Pirate Library Mirror (PiLiMi). The current Settlement provides for approximately $3,000 per work,
prior to the deduction of any costs, fees, and expenses as described below.
● The Settlement will establish a Settlement Fund of $1.5 billion to pay cash payments to members of the
Class, notice and administrative costs related to the Settlement, Class Counsel’s fees and expenses, and any
service awards for the Class Representatives.
● The Settlement releases past claims only. The Settlement also does not release any claims regarding the
output of AI.
● The Class consists of all legal or beneficial copyright owners, including exclusive licensees of reproduction
rights under 17 U.S.C. § 106, of the works in the Class. This likely means, in practice, authors and their
loan-out companies, publishers, and literary trusts and estates. Your books may be in Anthropic’s
downloaded datasets without your knowledge. To qualify, your book must:
o have been downloaded by Anthropic from LibGen or PiLiMi;
o have an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) or Amazon Standard Identification Number
(ASIN);
o have been registered with the United States Copyright Office within five years of the work’s first
publication; and
o have been registered before being downloaded by Anthropic, or within three months of the work’s
first publication.
● You may be eligible to receive a cash payment if you are a publisher or author of a work that meets the
above requirements and (a) you either own the exclusive right to publish and reproduce the work or (b) as
an author, you have granted the exclusive right to publish and reproduce the work to a publisher in exchange
for royalty payments.
● If you are not the sole owner of the reproduction rights for your work(s), the per-work award may be split
among all owners, including, for example, between an author and publisher.
● Please read this Notice carefully. Your legal rights may be affected whether you act or not. You have the
following options: (1) submit a valid claim by March 30, 2026 to receive payment, (2) opt out of the
Settlement Class by February 9, 2026, (3) object to the Settlement by February 9, 2026, or (4) do nothing.
● You can get a complete copy of the proposed Settlement and other key documents in this lawsuit at:
www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com.
● Para recibir una notificación en español, llama al 877-206-2314 o visita nuestro sitio web en
www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com.
● Pour recevoir une notification en français, veuillez nous appeler au 877-206-2314 ou visiter notre site web
www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com.
Questions? Visit www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com or call 1-877-206-2314
YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS
OPTION WHAT IT MEANS
Submit a Claim If you believe you are in the Class, you may submit a Claim Form. If you
Form do not submit a Claim Form, it is possible that you will not be paid or will
not receive the maximum possible monetary recovery. You can receive
payment for each qualifying work you own.
If you submit a valid Claim Form, you will give up the right to sue Anthropic
in a separate lawsuit about the legal claims this Settlement resolves.
Exclude You may exclude yourself and every other legal and beneficial owner of
Yourself and all your work by following the directions below by February 9, 2026. This is
Rightsholders the only option that allows you to bring your own separate lawsuit against
(“Opt Out”) Anthropic for the claims this Settlement resolves.
from the If you exclude yourself and all other rightsholders, you will give up the right
Settlement to receive any payment from this Settlement and will prevent all other legal
and beneficial owners of your works from receiving any payment from this
Settlement. If you exclude yourself and all other rightsholders from the
Settlement, you cannot object to it, and other legal and beneficial owners of
your works also cannot object to the Settlement.
Object to the You may object to the Settlement by February 9, 2026 by writing to the
Settlement Court and informing it why you do not think the Settlement should be
approved. You will still be bound by the Settlement if it is approved.
If you object, you may also file a Claim Form to receive a payment from
this Settlement.
Do Nothing If you do nothing, three potential outcomes may result, depending on what
the other rightsholders for your work do.
• If another rightsholder for your work files a Claim Form confirming
your right to payment, you may receive payment even if you do not
submit a Claim Form.
• If another rightsholder for your work opts out your work, your work
will be opted out of the Settlement.
• If no other rightsholder for your work does anything, you will not
receive a payment from the Settlement, and you will give up your
rights to sue Anthropic for the claims this Settlement resolves.
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Questions? Visit www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com or call 1-877-206-2314
Table of Contents
Basic Information
1. Why did I get this Notice? ...................................................................................................5
2. What is this lawsuit about? .................................................................................................5
3. Why is this a class action, and who is involved? .................................................................5
4. Why did the parties settle? ...................................................................................................5
Who Is in the Settlement?
5. What is the Class? ................................................................................................................6
6. How do I know if I am in the Settlement Class? .................................................................7
7. What sources did you use to create the Works List? ...........................................................7
8. What is a legal owner of a work? What is a beneficial owner of a work?
What is the sole owner of a work?.......................................................................................7
9. I’m still not sure if I am included. .......................................................................................8
10. I believe I am a Class Member, but I did not receive the notice by mail or email. .............8
Benefits of the Settlement
11. What does the Settlement provide? .....................................................................................8
12. How much will my payment be? .........................................................................................8
13. Are there any other benefits to the Settlement? ...................................................................9
14. What am I giving up to receive a payment from the Settlement
or stay in the Class? .............................................................................................................9
15. What are the Released Claims? ...........................................................................................9
How to Get a Settlement Payment – Submitting a Claim Form
16. How do I make a claim to receive a Settlement Payment? ................................................10
17. Can I submit a Claim Form for more than one work? .......................................................10
18. How do I know if I am a sole copyright owner, and if I am,
can I claim the entire award? .............................................................................................11
19. Will my per-work award be shared with a publisher (if I’m an author)
or an author (if I’m a publisher)? .......................................................................................11
20. Why do I have to share the per-work award? ....................................................................11
21. What is the default option for distributing per-work awards? ...........................................11
22. What is an Education Work? .............................................................................................12
23. Do I have to accept the Default Option?............................................................................12
24. What if a publisher or an author cannot locate the publishing contract for a work? .........12
25. What if I do not accept the Default Option and believe I should
receive a different Settlement payment? ............................................................................13
26. How will disputes be resolved? .........................................................................................13
27. What if I have rights in an Education Work, and why don’t
Education Works have a Default Option? .........................................................................13
28. What if a publishing contract is silent on how copyright
enforcement money is split but the author receives splits under
the contract for other forms of publishing income? ...........................................................14
29. Why do I have to list other rightsholders on the Claim Form? .........................................14
30. What if I do not have and cannot readily obtain
contact information for other rightsholders? .....................................................................14
31. Will I receive notice if someone else makes a claim for my book? ..................................14
32. Can I change my mind after submitting a Claim Form?....................................................14
33. What if I still have questions about the Claim Form? .......................................................14
34. Can Class Members who do not submit a Claim Form receive payment? ........................15
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Questions? Visit www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com or call 1-877-206-2314
35. When and how will I receive a payment from the Settlement? .........................................15
36. It seems like you are saying I must submit a claim to get money,
but that I can get money even if I don’t claim. Please explain. .........................................15
Lawyers Representing You
37. Who represents the Class in this case? ..............................................................................16
38. Should I get my own lawyer? ............................................................................................16
39. How will the lawyers and class representatives be paid? ..................................................16
Excluding Yourself from the Ongoing Lawsuit
40. How do I exclude myself from the Settlement? ................................................................17
41. Can I change my mind about opting out? ..........................................................................17
42. If I don’t exclude myself and my book is not excluded, can I sue Anthropic
for the same conduct or claims later with respect to a Work that is in the Class? .............18
43. If I exclude myself and all other rightsholders for a work,
can I still receive a payment from the Settlement? ............................................................18
Objecting to the Settlement
44. How do I tell the Court that I do not like the Settlement? .................................................18
45. What is the difference between objecting and requesting exclusion? ...............................19
If You Do Nothing
46. What happens if I do nothing at all? ..................................................................................19
The Final Approval Hearing
47. When and where will the Court decide whether to approve the Settlement? ....................20
48. Do I have to come to the Final Approval Hearing? ...........................................................20
Works Not on the Works List
49. How did you determine whether a work is on the Works List? .......................................20
50. What if some of my books are not on the Works List? ....................................................20
51. My work was on The Atlantic’s list of LibGen files.
Why is it not on the Works List? ......................................................................................20
52. Why aren’t all 7 million works that Anthropic downloaded
from LibGen and PiLiMi on the Works List? ...................................................................21
53. What do the columns on the Works List mean? ................................................................21
54. When I look up my works on the Works List Lookup
(www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com/lookup)
on the Settlement Website, I see an unexpected individual
or entity listed as a publisher/author. Why are they listed? ...............................................23
55. Why is my real name listed next to my pen name? Please remove
my real name that is not on my public U.S. copyright registration. ..................................23
Getting More Information
56. Are more details about the Settlement available? ..............................................................24
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Questions? Visit www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com or call 1-877-206-2314
Basic Information
1. Why did I get this Notice?
You got this Notice because records show you may be the legal or beneficial copyright owner of a
work that Anthropic downloaded from one of two websites: Library Genesis and Pirate Library Mirror.
This means in most cases that you are a publisher or author of a book and (a) either own the
exclusive right to publish and reproduce the book or (b) as an author, have granted the exclusive right to
publish and reproduce the book to a publisher in exchange for royalty payments.
The parties litigating Anthropic’s conduct in a class action lawsuit have reached a proposed
Settlement that must be approved by the Court.
The Court authorized this Notice because you have the right to know about the proposed
Settlement of this class action lawsuit and about all your rights and options before the Court decides
whether to grant final approval of the Settlement. This Notice explains the lawsuit, the Settlement,
your legal rights, what benefits are available, who is eligible for the benefits, and how to receive
those benefits.
2. What is this lawsuit about?
The lawsuit alleges that Anthropic infringed copyrights by downloading datasets containing
copyrighted books in violation of the federal Copyright Act. Anthropic denies all the allegations and denies
that it did anything wrong. Anthropic argues that its use of the downloaded datasets was fair use. You can
get more information about the lawsuit and view related court documents, including a copy of the Class
Action Complaint, at www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com.
3. Why is this a class action, and who is involved?
In a class action lawsuit, one or more people called “Named Plaintiffs” or “Class Representatives”
sue on behalf of other people who have similar claims. Together, the people with similar claims are a
“Class” and are called “Class Members.” In a class action, the court resolves the issues for all Class
Members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class. Each Class Member is bound by the
result of the lawsuit, including any settlement. That means Class Members may not file their own lawsuits
regarding the same claims that were decided in the class action.
Here, the Class is defined by ownership of works that are listed on a searchable database
available on this Settlement Website (the “Works List”).
The only way to determine whether your work is included in the Settlement is by checking
the Works List. You can access and search that Works List at www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com/lookup.
The Works List Lookup allows you to search for works in the Class by author, title, publisher, ISBN
number, ASIN number, or copyright registration number. If you are the legal or beneficial owner of a work
that is in the Works List, then you are a Class Member.
Some Class Members are legal or beneficial owners of some works that are on the Works List,
and other works that are not on the Works List. Only works on the Works List are covered by the Settlement.
This Settlement has no impact on works not included on the Works List.
4. Why did the parties settle?
The Named Plaintiffs and Anthropic disagree over whether Anthropic has violated the law. The
lawsuit has not gone to trial, and the Court has not decided in favor of the Named Plaintiffs or Anthropic.
Instead, the Class Representatives and Anthropic have agreed to settle the Action. The Class
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Questions? Visit www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com or call 1-877-206-2314
Representatives believe that the Settlement Agreement offers significant benefits to all Class Members, and
that the Settlement is fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interest of the Class Representatives and all
Class Members.
This class action settlement arises out of a lawsuit brought by various authors against Anthropic
PBC (“Anthropic”) alleging that Anthropic violated the Copyright Act by downloading copyrighted works
from online websites called Library Genesis (LibGen) and Pirate Library Mirror (PiLiMi) for purposes of
training large language models (LLMs). Anthropic denies that it violated the Copyright Act and contends
instead that such downloading and subsequent use was fair use under the Copyright Act. The plaintiffs
contend that Anthropic’s downloading violated Section 106(1) of the Copyright Act, which gives a
copyright owner the exclusive right to reproduce copies, or to license or transfer that right to others. Copying
a work without permission is not copyright infringement if a defendant can show the copying was fair use.
If the use is determined to be infringement, the Copyright Act provides for statutory damages of between
$200 and $150,000 per work, depending on factors including the harm that was actually caused by the
infringement, and whether the alleged infringer reasonably believed its use was fair or instead acted
willfully. If the use was fair (or there was no copying), the defendant owes $0.
Three authors sued Anthropic alleging copyright infringement. In June 2025, the district court ruled
that using the books to train AI models was fair use and therefore not a violation of the Copyright Act but
left for trial the question whether downloading and use of works from LibGen and PiLiMi was fair use.
In July 2025, the District Court ruled that the individual plaintiffs (or their associated legal entities)
could represent all beneficial and legal copyright owners of the exclusive right to reproduce copies of the
works in question. This order was, however, conditional on further steps being taken. Anthropic sought to
appeal both the fair use ruling and class certification ruling. The District Court and the Court of Appeals
have not ruled on those requests.
Trial was set to begin in December 2025. The parties then reached a settlement agreement. The
litigation involved significant uncertainties. If the case had proceeded, it is possible the Class could have
been de-certified even before trial, with Class Members receiving nothing. If the case had gone to trial, it
is possible the Class could have lost on the issue of fair use, again with Class Members receiving nothing.
Even if the Class could have prevailed at trial and later on likely appeals, a jury might have awarded a wide
range of amounts, to be paid only after the added expense and delay of the trial and its likely appeals.
The resulting Settlement is the largest copyright class action settlement in history. It provides
approximately $3,000 per work (not per Class Member), plus interest earned on the Settlement fund, less
the Court-approved costs and fees taken out of the Settlement fund.
Who Is in the Settlement?
5. What is the Class?
The Class includes legal or beneficial owners of the exclusive right to reproduce copies of a work
that was included in the versions of the LibGen or PiLiMi datasets downloaded by Anthropic and is listed
in the searchable database called the Works List (described below). A “work,” in this context, refers only
to works that:
✔ have an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) or Amazon Standard Identification
Number (ASIN);
✔ were registered with the United States Copyright Office within five years of the work’s first
publication; and
✔ were registered before being downloaded by Anthropic, or within three months of the work’s
first publication.
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You do not need to be listed on the original Copyright Registration to be a Class Member.
Exclusive licensees of reproduction rights under 17 U.S.C. § 106 are included if they meet the Class
criteria. The Class includes publishers, authors (and estates thereof), academic institutions, or others if they
are the legal owners of the reproduction right to a work or the beneficial owner of the rights. For example,
a legal owner could be an author or publisher with the right to publish and reproduce a book. A beneficial
owner could be an author who transferred legal ownership to a publisher in exchange for royalty payments.
Excluded from the Class are the directors, officers, and employees of Anthropic, personnel of federal
agencies, and district court personnel.
It is possible that some works that you authored, published, or otherwise own are on the Works List
while others that you authored, published, or otherwise own are not on the Works List. This Settlement
does not affect your rights at all for works that are not on the Works List.
6. How do I know if I am in the Settlement Class?
You are receiving this Notice because you may be a Class Member. Only the legal or beneficial
owners of works in the LibGen or PiLiMi datasets that Anthropic downloaded are eligible to be Class
Members. The Class does not include entities with a solely derivative-works right in a book that was in the
LibGen or PiLiMi datasets (which might include derivative rights such as motion picture, merchandise, or
audio book rights). Your work may have been in these datasets without your knowledge.
Class Counsel have compiled a searchable database of books included in the Class and Settlement,
available at Works List Lookup, www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com/lookup.
Searching this Works List is the only way to determine whether your work is included in the
Settlement. The Works List Lookup allows you to search for works by author, title, publisher, copyright
registration number, ISBN number, or ASIN to see if your work is included in the Class. If you are the
legal or beneficial owner of a work that is in the Works List, then you are a Class Member.
7. What sources did you use to create the Works List?
In this lawsuit, Anthropic produced all the files it downloaded from LibGen and PiLiMi, and
“metadata” files, which may describe the contents of these files.
Class Counsel and experts then determined whether each work satisfied the Class definition in
Question 5 by comparing Anthropic’s files downloaded from LibGen and PiLiMi with (1) United States
Copyright Office records and (2) industry-wide ISBN databases. In many cases, Class Counsel and experts
used manual review to ensure that every book that satisfied the Class definition in Question 5 was included.
See Questions 49–55 below for more information about the Works List and works that were included in the
Works List.
8. What is a legal owner of a work? What is a beneficial owner of a work? What is the sole
owner of a work?
A legal owner of a work holds the exclusive right to publish and reproduce that work in the
U.S. Often, by contract, the legal owner of the work is the publisher because it holds the right to
reproduce by contract.
A beneficial owner of a work is a former legal owner who assigned the exclusive right to publish
and reproduce the book to another in exchange for royalty payments. Often, authors are beneficial owners.
A sole owner holds all rights to reproduce the book. Examples of sole ownership include:
• An author whose rights in the book have reverted from the publisher.
• An author whose rights assigned to the publisher have terminated.
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• A self-published author who did not work with a co-author and never assigned rights to
a publisher.
• A publisher that commissioned a work-for-hire, as defined in the Copyright Act.
• A publisher to which all rights in a book have been assigned, with no royalty obligations
to an author or anyone else.
9. I’m still not sure if I am included.
If Notice was mailed or emailed to you, then you were listed as a potential Class Member. If you
are still not sure whether you are included, you can get help at www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com,
by calling 877-206-2314, by emailing [email protected], or by contacting any of
the lawyers listed in response to Question 37.
10. I believe I am a Class Member, but I did not receive the notice by mail or email.
You may be a Class Member even if you did not receive an individual notice by mail or email. We
are still gathering some Class Members’ contact information and will continue sending notice by mail and
email until December 1, 2025.
If you are a Class Member, you can submit a Claim Form, opt out, object, or do nothing
regardless of whether you received a notice by mail or email. You can obtain a notice and Claim
Form at www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com, by calling 877-206-2314, by emailing
[email protected], or by contacting any of the lawyers listed in response to
Question 37.
If you are a Class Member and did not receive mail or email notice, you are still bound by the terms
of the Settlement unless you, or another rightsholder for your work, opts out.
Benefits of the Settlement
11. What does the Settlement provide?
Under the Settlement, Anthropic has agreed to establish a non-reversionary Settlement Fund of
one-billion-five-hundred-million dollars ($1,500,000,000). Anthropic will fund the Settlement Fund in
four installments, including (1) three-hundred-million dollars ($300,000,000) paid on October 2, 2025,
(2) three-hundred-million dollars ($300,000,000) paid no later than five (5) business days of entry of
Final Approval, (3) four-hundred-fifty-million dollars ($450,000,000) paid by September 25, 2026, and
(4) four-hundred-fifty-million dollars ($450,000,000) paid by September 27, 2027. The Settlement
requires Anthropic to pay interest on its third and fourth payments, from September 25, 2025 until those
third and fourth payments are made.
This Settlement Fund will be divided equally across all Class Works for which copyright owner(s)
submit a valid Claim Form. The Settlement Fund will also be used to pay for notice and administrative
costs related to the Settlement, attorneys’ fees and expenses, and any service awards for the Class
Representatives. Therefore, each unique work (or title) that Anthropic downloaded, for which a copyright
owner submits a valid Claim Form, will be allocated the same amount of money from the Settlement.
12. How much will my payment be?
Class Members who submit a valid Claim Form will be entitled to a payment from the Settlement.
The amount of that payment will depend on several factors, including (i) how many works on the Works
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List you own, (ii) how many other Class Members submit a valid Claim Form, and (iii) whether multiple
Class Members submit a valid Claim Form for your work(s).
Because no money will go back to Anthropic, the amount per work could increase depending on
how many people claim.
If someone else is a legal or beneficial owner of the same work as you, the per-work payment may
be split among all those owners of the work (or title). Please read your Claim Form carefully to learn how
payments will be determined.
Finally, to further facilitate payments to Class Members, there are limited circumstances in which
you will be paid even if you do not file a Claim Form. See Question 34.
13. Are there any other benefits to the Settlement?
Yes. The Settlement requires Anthropic to destroy all books that it downloaded from the LibGen or
PiLiMi datasets and any copies of those books, subject to Anthropic’s existing legal preservation obligation
or obligation pursuant to court order under either U.S. or international law.
Anthropic also represented that neither the LibGen or PiLiMi datasets, nor any portions of those
datasets, were in the training corpus of any of its commercially released large language models.
To view the full benefits of the Class Action Settlement Agreement and Release, visit
www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com.
14. What am I giving up to receive a payment from the Settlement or stay in the Class?
Unless you exclude yourself or another copyright owner excludes you, you will remain in the Class
and the Settlement. If the Settlement is approved and becomes final, all the Court’s orders entered after the
Order on Class Certification will apply to you and legally bind you. You will not be able to bring a lawsuit
against Anthropic for any of the legal claims released by the Class Action Settlement Agreement.
The specific rights you are giving up are called Released Claims (see Question 15, below).
15. What are the Released Claims?
A Released Claim means a claim that you are giving up – releasing – in exchange for getting the
benefits from the Settlement.
Released Claims means any and all claims or causes of action for any relief of any kind including,
but not limited to, actual damages, statutory damages, liquidated damages, penalties, injunctive relief,
declaratory relief, attorneys’ fees and costs, expenses and interest, liabilities, demands, or lawsuits against
the Released Parties arising from Defendant’s alleged past torrenting (including uploading and seeding),
scanning, retention, and use of works, including training, research, development, and production of AI
models and associated products and services of works on the Works List as of the date of preliminary
approval of the Settlement. For purposes of clarity, no claims based on the output of AI models are released.
For the avoidance of doubt, Released Claims extend only to past claims on the Works List. There will be
no release of any claims for future reproduction, distribution and/or creation of derivative works of the
works on the Works List. The release does not constitute, in any respect, a license to torrent, scan, or train
AI models on any copyrighted works, or to create infringing outputs from AI models. Released Claims do
not extend to any activity or conduct that occurs or occurred after August 25, 2025.
You will also waive any rights or benefits available to you under the provisions of Section 1542
of the California Civil Code or any similar law, which generally preserves a releasing party’s right
to bring any claims that could have been asserted in the action which were not known or suspected
to exist at the time of executing the release and would have materially affected the settlement.
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Released Claims do not include any claims about works in Books3 or scanned books that do not
appear on the Works List.
How to Get a Settlement Payment – Submitting a Claim Form
16. How do I make a claim to receive a Settlement Payment?
To make a claim to receive money from the Settlement, you must submit a valid Claim Form. If
you believe you are in the Class, you are strongly encouraged to submit a Claim Form. If you do not submit
a Claim Form, it is possible that you will not be paid or will not receive the maximum possible monetary
recovery. Please read and follow the instructions on the Claim Form carefully. All Class Members can
receive personal assistance completing the Claim Form by contacting the Settlement Administrator
at www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com, 877-206-2314, or [email protected], or
by contacting any of the lawyers listed in response to Question 37.
Visit www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com to quickly submit your Claim Form online, or to
download a full Claim Form to complete and return by mail. Submitting your Claim Form online is
recommended for ease and faster processing. Claim Forms must be submitted online by March 30, 2026.
Claim Forms submitted by mail must be postmarked no later than March 30, 2026.
Class Members can also request a Claim Form by calling toll-free 877-206-2314 or by writing to
the Settlement Administrator at the following address:
Bartz v. Anthropic
c/o JND Legal Administration
PO Box 91204
Seattle, WA 98111
Toll-Free Number: 877-206-2314
Email: [email protected]
Plaintiffs and Anthropic have agreed that books on the Works List meet the requirements to
participate in the Settlement. However, Class Members may be required to submit documentation to
establish their status as a legal or beneficial owner of a work on the Works List. This documentation may
include the operative contract(s) for the work and any relevant written communications with other potential
owners in the work.
To be clear, this does not mean the Claims Form must be jointly filed with other potential owners
in the work. If you are a Class Member with a claim to a work, you only need to file your own claim. Claims
by different rightsholders in the same work will be combined in the claims process.
17. Can I submit a Claim Form for more than one work?
Yes. If you are the legal or beneficial owner of more than one work in the LibGen or PiLiMi datasets
that Anthropic downloaded, you can submit a single Claim Form that identifies the required information
for all your works.
It is highly recommended that Class Members with multiple works on the Works List
submit a Claim Form with a list of the works in electronic form to the Settlement Administrator.
For personal assistance, please contact the Settlement Administrator at
www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com, 877-206-2314, or [email protected], or
contact any of the lawyers listed in response to Question 37. The Claim Form also includes
instructions for how to submit a list to the Settlement Administrator.
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18. How do I know if I am a sole copyright owner, and if I am, can I claim the entire award?
The circumstances under which publishers are sole owners include:
• The publisher commissioned a work-for-hire.
• Even if not a work-for-hire, the author has no rights to any payment for the book.
• The publisher and the author are the same: the book is self-published.
The circumstances under which authors are sole owners include:
• The author and the publisher are the same: the book is self-published.
• The author assigned rights to the publisher, but those rights reverted back to the author
because the book was out of print or the contract was otherwise terminated.
• The author gave the publisher only a non-exclusive license to publish, or rights that
were term-limited, and the term has elapsed.
If you are the sole copyright owner, you can claim the entire award. You may be asked to submit
documentation to the Settlement Administrator to make this determination.
This notice is designed and intended to provide written notice of this case and corresponding
Settlement to everyone whose interest is likely to be affected by the Settlement, consistent with 17 U.S.C.
§ 501(b). A copy of the complaint is available at www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com. If you would
like to receive a hard copy of the complaint, please contact the Settlement Administrator at
www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com, 877-206-2314, or [email protected], or contact
any of the lawyers listed in response to Question 37.
19. Will my per-work award be shared with a publisher (if I’m an author) or an author
(if I’m a publisher)?
If someone else also has some rights to the same work as you, the per-work award may be split
among all legal or beneficial owners of the work. For example, if you are a publisher, authors who are legal
or beneficial owners of the work may submit a Claim Form for the same work. Or, if you are an author,
publishers and other authors who are legal or beneficial owners of the work may submit a Claim Form for
the same work. The claims process will determine the amount of your Settlement payment.
20. Why do I have to share the per-work award?
The goal of the claims process is to give each Class Member an appropriate share of the per-work
award as contemplated under each Class Member’s contractual rights. Many publishing contracts provide
that copyright infringement recoveries are shared equally between authors and publishers. So, whether you
are an author or a publisher, you may need to share a portion of the proceeds from the Settlement with
another party.
The Claim Form requires you to specify what percentage of the per-work award you believe should
be paid to you or to any other legal or beneficial owners of the work.
21. What is the default option for distributing per-work awards?
The Settlement provides that for many types of works such as trade books and university press
books, the payment, by default, will be split 50-50 between authors and publishers. This 50-50 split is called
the Default Option.
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The Default Option does not apply to Education Works, as defined below in Question 22. The
searchable directory of works accessible on www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com identifies which
works are Education Works.
If your work is not an Education Work, you may choose to accept the Default Option. If you do,
your Claim Form will be valid even if you do not submit additional documentation in support of your claim.
If all owners who submit a valid Claim Form accept the Default Option, that is how you and the others will
be paid. If you accept the Default Option but another owner does not, you will be contacted by the
Settlement Administrator to help reach a resolution.
If multiple authors file valid claims for the same work, the authors’ share will be split equally among
all authors who file a valid claim (unless one or more claimants validly specify otherwise). If multiple
publishers file valid claims for the same work, the publishers’ share will be split equally among all
publishers who file a valid claim (unless one or more claimants validly specify otherwise).
22. What is an Education Work?
Class Counsel have identified certain works on the Works List as Education Works for purposes of
designating works that are not subject to the Default Option for splits between authors and publishers
(described above in Question 21). For this purpose, Class Counsel have identified “Education Works” as
works published by education publishers. Education publishers specialize in creating and publishing works,
including but not limited to textbooks, for the instruction of students and professionals, which are
distributed for and through educational and professional markets. The Works List Lookup
(www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com/lookup) identifies which works are Education Works.
“Education Works” may not be the same as works published by a University Press.
23. Do I have to accept the Default Option?
No, you are not required to agree to the Default Option. The Default Option may not be consistent
with your contractual arrangement for the claimed work. You have the option to accept the Default Option
or claim an alternative split. Other owners of your work will have the same option. The Claim Form
specifies the circumstances under which you may be required to submit documentation.
The Default Option does not apply to Education Works. The Claim Form includes a section for
owners of Education Works to complete (see Question 27). That portion of the Claim Form calls for owners
of Education Works to make a good-faith representation regarding the percentage of recovery they believe
they are entitled to receive relative to other rightsholders. If owners of Education Works do not know the
percentage recovery they and others are entitled to, they can so designate on the Claim Form. They can also
upload a copy of any relevant publishing agreement(s) or other documents to the Settlement Administrator,
who will determine the amount, if any, to which the claimant is entitled.
24. What if a publisher or an author cannot locate the publishing contract for a work?
If you cannot locate the publishing contract for a work, you should still complete the Claim Form,
following all applicable instructions. If any questions arise, the publisher, the author or author’s estate can
contact the Settlement Administrator at www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com, 877-206-2314, or
[email protected], or contact any of the lawyers listed in response to
Question 37.
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25. What if I do not accept the Default Option and believe I should receive a different
Settlement payment?
For works other than Education Works, if you want to claim an alternative contractual split instead
of the Default Option, you must submit all requested information and documentation as specified in your
Claim Form.
If a dispute arises, the Court-appointed Settlement Administrator will coordinate with all
rightsholders to help decide how much to pay each legal or beneficial owner based on the agreement(s) or
other documents for your work. If the rightsholders do not agree, the final determination will be made by a
Court-appointed Special Master. If you submit a claim, you thereby consent to the possibility that a Special
Master will decide any disputes on which you cannot reach agreement with all other rightsholders. All
decisions by the Special Master shall be final.
26. How will disputes be resolved?
If all claimants for a given work do not agree on the percentage of recovery, or if any claimant does
not know the amount to which they are entitled, the Settlement Administrator will notify each claimant of
the situation. The claimants will then have an opportunity to meet and confer on the issue and can amend
their request. If the claimants cannot resolve any disagreement, they may, within 30 days of being notified
of the situation by the Settlement Administrator, confidentially submit the contractual basis for their
position, including any supporting documents (for example, the relevant contract) to the Settlement
Administrator. The Settlement Administrator will then work with the parties to resolve their dispute based
on the supporting documents. The Settlement Administrator may require you to submit your contract. If the
parties do not resolve their dispute, they may then submit the dispute to a Court-appointed Special Master
at no cost to the claimants, and with no requirement to meet in person.
The Special Master will endeavor to quickly resolve all disputes based on the law. The positions
any claimant takes and the decisions of the Settlement Administrator or Special Master respecting them
will not be discoverable by claimants in this same litigation for use as to other works in this litigation. Such
procedure would be unworkable.
The decisions of the Special Master, however, will mark the final end of that particular dispute and
will bind without a right of appeal all claimants and potential claimants to the work occasioning that dispute.
By not opting out, all Class Members who remain in this action are bound to this procedure.
Also, all claim forms, all submissions in support thereof, and all decisions on them will be submitted
confidentially and not publicly docketed but will be maintained by the Settlement Administrator and/or
Special Master. And, all such records may be discoverable by third parties in other litigation for good cause
and upon court order.
Finally, notwithstanding anything above, what claim awards are distributed and to whom will be
public information (such as in a table of payments that always shows amounts paid by legal name by
copyright registration while redacting banking information and non-corporate contact information). Class
Members are entitled to know the final approved plan of distribution and to whom the money is paid.
If a Class Member does not opt out and does not submit a timely claim pursuant to the claims
process, that Class Member will be bound by the allocations determined during the claims process and will
receive only the allocations if any made there in favor of that Class Member.
27. What if I have rights in an Education Work, and why don’t Education Works have a
Default Option?
The Default Option does not apply to Education Works. Education Works are works published by
education publishers. Education publishers specialize in creating and publishing works, including but not
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limited to textbooks, for the instruction of students and professionals, which are distributed for and through
educational and professional markets. The searchable directory of works accessible on
www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com identifies which works are Education Works. For any Education
Works, you should fill out Section E of the Claim Form.
The reason that the Default Option does not apply to Education Works is that contracts for Education
Works are sufficiently diverse that a Default Option could be confusing for authors and publishers.
If you have any questions about how to complete the Claim Form, please contact the
Settlement Administrator at www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com, 877-206-2314, or
[email protected], or contact any of the lawyers listed in response to
Question 37.
28. What if a publishing contract is silent on how copyright enforcement money is split but the
author receives splits under the contract for other forms of publishing income?
If you are unsure, you should still complete the Claim Form, following all applicable instructions.
If any questions arise, the author can contact the Settlement Administrator at
www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com, 877-206-2314, or [email protected], or
contact any of the lawyers listed in response to Question 37.
29. Why do I have to list other rightsholders on the Claim Form?
The Court and the parties want to ensure that all Class Members receive notice of their rights under
this Settlement. If you are not the sole owner (as defined in Question 8 above), the Claim Form requires
you to either (i) provide any contact information you have or can readily obtain for any other rightsholders
or (ii) certify that you have already, separately submitted such contact information to the Settlement
Administrator or to Class Counsel.
For most works on the Works List, authors and publishers both own certain rights in the work. For
example, the publisher may own the right to reproduce the work, while the author owns the right to receive
royalty income from the use of the work.
30. What if I do not have and cannot readily obtain contact information for other rightsholders?
Please provide as much information as you can. The Claim Form requires that you either (i) provide
any contact information you have or can readily obtain (including, for example, by contacting someone you
believe may have the contact information) for any other rightsholders or (ii) certify that you have already,
separately submitted such contact information to the Settlement Administrator or to Class Counsel. Other
rightsholders may include authors, co-authors, co-owners, and publishers of the identified work(s).
31. Will I receive notice if someone else makes a claim for my book?
Yes, the Settlement Administrator will notify you if someone else submits a valid Claim Form in
connection with a work on the Works List for which you are identified as a potential rightsholder.
32. Can I change my mind after submitting a Claim Form?
Yes. If you change your mind before February 9, 2026, you can withdraw your Claim Form.
33. What if I still have questions about the Claim Form?
Please read the Claim Form carefully and follow the directions. The Claim Form is available
at www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com. If you have questions, you can get personal assistance
at www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com, by calling 877-206-2314, by emailing
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[email protected], or by contacting any of the lawyers listed in response to
Question 37.
34. Can Class Members who do not submit a Claim Form receive payment?
If one copyright owner submits a valid Claim Form that identifies another rightsholder, that other
rightsholder may receive payment.
If a copyright owner can’t be reached or does not respond after reasonable notice efforts, their claim
to Settlement funds for the relevant work will be deemed forfeited. In such cases, the release of claims will
still apply, meaning the owner will be bound by the Settlement and unable to pursue separate legal action
regarding the covered conduct, but they will not receive any payment from the Settlement fund. The funds
allocated for that work may be redistributed among other eligible claimants, consistent with the Settlement’s
allocation plan.
No rightsholder can file a Claim Form on behalf of any other rightsholder in the settlement. You
must file your own Claim Form.
35. When and how will I receive a payment from the Settlement?
To receive a payment, please submit a valid Claim Form by March 30, 2026. Payments will be
issued only after the Court grants final approval and the Settlement becomes final (the “Effective Date”).
The Effective Date is the first business day after both: (1) the Court has entered final approval and judgment,
and (2) all appeal periods have ended or any appeals are resolved.
The Settlement Administrator will calculate payments within 80 days after the deadline for all
claims to be submitted. Payments may be made in up to three installments, depending on when Anthropic
funds the settlement as described in Question 11. Anthropic’s funding alone does not trigger payments. No
payments will be made before the Effective Date or the calculation of payment amounts.
It is currently estimated that you will receive your initial payment by August 10, 2026. Subsequent
payments to Class Members may also occur, depending on the timing of Anthropic’s installment payments
into the Settlement Fund, as described in Question 11. Please check the Settlement Website
(www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com) for updates. The payments may be slower than predicted if the
Settlement is appealed, or faster than predicted if Anthropic pays the Settlement on a faster timetable.
Payments will be issued consistent with the payment method selected on each validly submitted
Claim Form. It is your responsibility to inform the Settlement Administrator of any updates to your payment
information after the submission of your Claim Form, including your current address if you choose payment
by check.
The Settlement approval process may take time before any payments can be issued. Please check
www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com for updates.
36. It seems like you are saying I must submit a claim to get money, but that I can get money even
if I don’t claim. Please explain.
If you believe you are in the Class, you are strongly encouraged to submit a Claim Form. If you do
not submit a Claim Form, it is possible that you will not be paid or will not receive the maximum possible
monetary recovery. Filing a valid Claim Form is also the only way to have input into the allocation of the
per-work award – meaning, for example, whether or not to accept the Default Option.
However, if your work is a shared work (that is, it is not owned solely by a single rightsholder) and
another rightsholder files a valid Claim Form and either (i) elects the Default Option or (ii) establishes that
a different allocation percentage should apply, you will be sent a check for your share. The reason for this
is to maximize the number of Class Members who get paid consistent with their rights in the work.
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The Lawyers Representing You
37. Who represents the Class in this case?
In a class action, the court appoints lawyers to work on the case and represent the interests of all the
Class Members. In this case, the Court appointed the following Class Counsel to represent the Class:
Rachel Geman Justin Nelson
Daniel Hutchinson Rohit Nath
LIEFF CABRASER HEIMANN & SUSMAN GODFREY L.L.P.
BERNSTEIN, LLP 1000 Louisiana Street, Suite 5100
275 Battery Street, 29th Floor Houston, TX 77002
San Francisco, CA 94111 1900 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 1400
250 Hudson Street, 8th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90067
New York, NY 10013 310-789-3100
800-254-2660
You may contact Class Counsel to answer any questions about the Settlement. You may also
contact the Settlement Administrator by calling 877-206-2314, or by emailing
[email protected].
38. Should I get my own lawyer?
If you stay in the Settlement Class, you do not need to hire your own lawyer. Class Counsel is
working on behalf of the Class. However, if you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire
one at your own expense and cost. You may also appear for yourself without a lawyer.
39. How will the lawyers and class representatives be paid?
Plaintiffs will request an award of attorneys’ fees for Class Counsel of up to 25% of the
Settlement Fund, and for reimbursement of Class Counsel’s costs and other expenses, to be paid from
the Settlement Fund. Plaintiffs will post the motion for attorneys’ fees and costs on
www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com. All amounts awarded shall be determined by the Court.
Class Counsel will also ask the Court to award service payments of up to $50,000 to each of the
Named Plaintiffs (Andrea Bartz Inc., Charles Graeber, and MJ+ KJ Inc.) for the time and effort they
contributed to the case on behalf of Class Members. If approved by the Court, any service awards will be
paid from the Settlement Fund.
Excluding Yourself from the Ongoing Lawsuit
40. How do I exclude myself from the Settlement?
If you do not want your works on the Works List to be included in the Settlement, then you may
“opt out” of the Settlement. If you opt out a work from the Settlement, that means that you and any other
legal or beneficial owners of that work will not receive any payment from the Settlement for that work. If
one rightsholder opts out of the Settlement, the entire work, and the rest of the rightsholders for that work,
are opted out as well. For example, if you are an author and choose to opt out your work, that means you
will not receive any payment, your co-authors will not receive any payment, and your publisher will not
receive payment. If you are a publisher and choose to opt out your book, that means that you will not receive
any payment, and all authors of that book will not receive any payment.
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To opt out, you must submit an opt-out request to the Settlement Administrator via mail, email, or
electronically at www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com. To be valid, an opt-out request must:
(a) be in writing;
(b) identify the case name, Bartz v. Anthropic PBC, No. 3:24-cv-05417-WHA (N.D. Cal.);
(c) state your full name and current address;
(d) identify the specific work(s) from the Works List that you seek to opt out, including title,
author, U.S. Copyright Office Registration Number, and ISBN/ASIN for each work;
(e) describe your copyright interest in the work(s);
(f) contain the statement that “I hereby request to be excluded from the proposed Class in
Bartz v. Anthropic PBC, No. 3:24-cv-05417-WHA (N.D. Cal.). I certify under penalty
of perjury that all the information I have provided is true and correct.”;
(g) provide the name and contact information for any other persons who may be a legal or
beneficial owner of the right to reproduce the work(s);
(h) be signed personally by you (the Class Member); and
(i) be postmarked or received by the Settlement Administrator by February 9, 2026.
If you have any questions about how to opt out, you can get personal assistance at
www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com, by calling 877-206-2314, by emailing
[email protected], or by contacting any of the lawyers listed in response to
Question 37.
If you choose to mail your opt-out request, it must be postmarked no later than February 9, 2026. If
you submit an opt-out request via email, fax, or the Settlement Website
(www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com), it must be received by February 9, 2026.
The Settlement Administrator’s address and contact information is:
Bartz v. Anthropic
c/o JND Legal Administration
PO Box 91204
Seattle, WA 98111
Email: [email protected]
You cannot exclude yourself (opt out) by telephone.
When an owner submits a valid opt-out request for a particular work, the Settlement Administrator
will take reasonable steps to notify all other parties who may be legal or beneficial owners of the right to
reproduce that same work, informing them that another Class Member has requested exclusion.
41. Can I change my mind about opting out?
Yes. If you opt out a work from the Settlement and another Class Member submits a claim for that
same work, the Settlement Administrator will attempt to notify all legal and beneficial owners of the work
within five days of receiving a valid opt-out request. Those copyright owners may try to contact you and
encourage you to opt back in so that they can receive payment from the Settlement.
If you opt out but wish to opt back in, you may do so by submitting a request for re-inclusion in the
Settlement by March 9, 2026.
To request re-inclusion, you must submit a re-inclusion request to the Settlement Administrator via
mail, email, or electronically at www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com. To be valid, your request for re-
inclusion must:
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(a) be in writing;
(b) identify the case name, Bartz v. Anthropic PBC, No. 3:24-cv-05417-WHA (N.D. Cal.);
(c) state your full name and current address;
(d) identify the specific work(s) from the Works List that you seek to re-include, including
title, author, U.S. Copyright Office Registration Number, and ISBN/ASIN for each work;
(e) describe your copyright interest in the identified work(s);
(f) contain the statement that “I hereby request to be re-included in the proposed Class in
Bartz v. Anthropic PBC, No. 3:24-cv-05417-WHA (N.D. Cal.). I certify under penalty
of perjury that all the information I have provided is true and correct.”;
(g) provide the name and contact information for any other persons who may be a legal or
beneficial owner of the right to reproduce the work(s);
(h) be signed personally by you (the Class Member); and
(i) be postmarked or received by the Settlement Administrator on or before March 9, 2026.
You are prohibited from negotiating any “quid pro quo” with other rightsholders in exchange
for re-inclusion. Any demands for payment in exchange for re-inclusion will be reported to the Court.
If a copyright owner submits a valid request for re-inclusion for a work, the Settlement
Administrator will attempt to notify all legal and beneficial owners of the work that a Class Member has
requested to be re-included.
42. If I don’t exclude myself and my work is not excluded, can I sue Anthropic for the same
conduct or claims later with respect to a work that is in the Class?
No. If you are a Class Member, unless you exclude yourself from the ongoing lawsuit, you give up
your right to sue Anthropic for the claims discussed in Question 15 above.
43. If I exclude myself and all other rightsholders for a work, can I still receive a payment from
the Settlement?
No. If you exclude yourself and all rightsholders for a work, you will not receive any payment from
the Settlement for that work, and all other legal and beneficial owners of that work will not receive payment
from the Settlement. By opting out, you are telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the
Settlement. You are only eligible to receive a payment from the Settlement if you stay in the Settlement.
Objecting to the Settlement
44. How do I tell the Court that I do not like the Settlement?
You can notify the Court that you don’t like the proposed Settlement by filing an objection. If you
disagree with any part of the Settlement, including Class Counsel’s potential award of attorney’s fees and
costs, you can ask the Court to deny approval by filing an objection. You cannot ask the Court to order a
different Settlement; the Court can only approve or reject this Settlement. If the Court denies approval of
the Settlement, Class Members will not receive any Settlement payments, and the lawsuit will continue. If
that is what you want to happen, you should object.
Any objection to the proposed Settlement must be in writing. You must give reasons why you think
the Court should not approve it and say whether your objection applies to just you, a part of the Class, or
the entire Class. The Court will consider your views. You may, but don’t need to, hire your own lawyer to
help you.
To object, you must send a letter to the Court that:
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(1) is in writing;
(2) identifies the case name, Bartz v. Anthropic PBC, No. 3:24-cv-05417-WHA
(N.D. Cal.);
(3) states your full name and current address;
(4) states that you believe yourself to be a member of the Class;
(5) identifies at least one work on the Works List in which you are a rightsholder
(6) describes your copyright interest in the work(s);
(7) states whether the objection applies only to you, to a subset of the Class, or to the
entire Class;
(8) includes the specific grounds for the objection, and all documents or writings that
you want the Court to consider;
(9) includes the name and contact information of any and all attorneys representing,
advising, or in any way assisting you in connection with the preparation or
submission of the objection, or who may profit from the objection;
(10) says whether either you or your lawyer intend to appear at the final approval hearing;
(11) is signed personally by you (the Class Member); and
(12) is postmarked by February 9, 2026;
The objection must be filed with the Court or postmarked on or before February 9, 2026. You may
submit the objection to the Court either by filing it electronically or in person at any location of the United
States District Court for the Northern District of California, or by mailing it to the Class Action Clerk,
United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 450 Golden Gate Ave., 16th Floor, San
Francisco, CA 94102.
45. What is the difference between objecting and requesting exclusion?
Objecting is telling the Court you do not like something about the Settlement. You can object only
if you stay in the Settlement Class (that is, if you do not exclude yourself and no other copyright owner
excludes you). Requesting exclusion is telling the Court you do not want to be part of the Class or the
Settlement, and that any other legal and beneficial owners of your works cannot be part of the Class or
Settlement. If you exclude yourself, you cannot object to the Settlement because it no longer affects you,
and any other legal and beneficial owners of your works cannot be part of the Settlement because it no
longer affects them.
If You Do Nothing
46. What happens if I do nothing at all?
If you are a Class Member and you do nothing, there are three possible outcomes.
First, if you do nothing but another rightsholder submits a Claim Form confirming that you are the
legal or beneficial owner of a work on the Works List, you may receive payment without filing a Claim
Form yourself. However, you should not rely on anyone else to submit a Claim Form for your works. The
only way to ensure that you receive payment is by submitting a valid Claim Form.
Second, if you do nothing but another rightsholder opts out your work from the Settlement, you will
be opted out of the Settlement for that work too.
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Third, if you do nothing and all other rightsholders for your work also do nothing, you will not
receive a payment from the Settlement. In addition, by staying in the Settlement Class, you give up your
right to sue Anthropic on your own for the same legal claims released by the Settlement.
The Final Approval Hearing
47. When and where will the Court decide whether to approve the Settlement?
The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing to decide whether to approve the Settlement. The
hearing is currently scheduled to occur on April 23, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. PT at the San Francisco Federal
Courthouse, 450 Golden Gate Ave., Courtroom 12 – 19th Floor.
The date and time of the Final Approval Hearing is subject to change without further notice to the
Class, so please check www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com for updates.
Because the settlement of a class action decides the rights of all members of the Class, the Court
must give final approval to the Settlement before it can take effect. Payments will only be made if the Court
approves the Settlement and any appeals are resolved. At the Final Approval Hearing, the Court may, at its
discretion, listen to Class Members who have asked to speak at the hearing.
The date and time of the Final Approval Hearing is subject to change without further notice
to the Class, so please check www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com or the Court’s PACER site
for updates.
48. Do I have to come to the Final Approval Hearing?
No. You don’t have to attend, but you may at your own expense. You may also ask the Court for
permission to speak and express your opinion about the Settlement. If the Court does not approve the
Settlement or the parties decide to end it, it will be void and the lawsuit will continue.
The Works List
49. How did you determine whether a work is on the Works List?
Class Counsel and experts put the LibGen and PiLiMi files through two “matching” processes (a) to
assess whether each file met the Class definition (as identified in Question 5) and (b) to improve, refine,
and supplement the metadata contained in Anthropic’s files. Those two matching processes were based on
(1) the ISBN(s) extracted from LibGen and PiLiMi text files, and (2) on metadata created by users of
LibGen and PiLiMi.
50. What if some of my books are not on the Works List?
You retain all of your rights for the books not included on the Works List. The Settlement does not
affect your books not included on the Works List.
51. My work was on The Atlantic’s list of LibGen files. Why is it not on the Works List?
The Works List only includes works that meet the Class definition (as identified in Question 5). For
a variety of reasons, many of the books listed in The Atlantic’s list of LibGen files do not meet the Class
definition. For example:
● Anthropic did not download any works from LibGen after July 2021. To compile its list,
The Atlantic used metadata from LibGen as that database existed in 2025. Between July 2021
and 2025, millions of additional books were added to LibGen. Your work would not be part
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of the Class, and therefore not on the Works List, if it was (i) added to LibGen after July 2021
and (ii) not among the works Anthropic downloaded from PiLiMi in August 2022.
● The metadata for LibGen is known to contain errors, and it is possible that LibGen metadata
used by the Atlantic is not accurate.
● As explained above in Question 5, a work falls within the Class definition only if it (i) has an
ISBN or ASIN; (ii) was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office within five years of the
work’s first publication; and (iii) was registered before being downloaded by Anthropic, or
within three months of the work’s first publication. Many works in LibGen and PiLiMi were
not registered or did not have an ISBN or ASIN. Such works are not part of the Class and
therefore not on the Works List.
To be clear: if a work you own is not listed on the Works List, this Settlement does not release any
claims in connection with that work.
52. Why aren’t all 7 million works that Anthropic downloaded from LibGen and PiLiMi on the
Works List?
Even though Anthropic downloaded approximately 7 million files from LibGen and PiLiMi, many of
those files were duplicates of works, or unregistered works, or were empty, corrupted, or incomplete files.
About 40% of the files Anthropic downloaded (approximately 3 million) were duplicates. Duplicate
copies are not eligible to be in the Works List.
Likewise, works not validly registered with the U.S. Copyright Office are not eligible to be in the
Works List. Many of the works Anthropic downloaded were not registered. For example, non-English
works have very low registration rates. Of the approximately 4 million unique works that Anthropic
downloaded, around 2.5 million were written in languages other than English. Most of those 2.5 million
non-English works were unregistered. In addition, many of the 1.5 million unique English works were not
registered. And even among registered works, many failed to satisfy the date criteria in the Class definition,
because registration occurred (i) more than five years after first publication or (ii) after Anthropic
downloaded such works.
Finally, many works failed validation tests. For example, the Works List does not include files
that were empty, corrupted, or incomplete.
53. What do the columns on the Works List mean?
Copyright- Copyright- Copyright- Copyright
ISBN(s)/ Identified Identified Identified Education
Registered Registered Registered Registration
ASIN(s) Publisher(s) Title Author(s) Work
Title Author(s) Claimant(s) Number
You do not need to fully understand each column to file a claim, and you may file a claim at
www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com if you believe you are a legal or beneficial owner of a work on
the Works List. For more information on how the Works List was created, please see Questions 7, and 49–
55.
The following bullets describe the Works List columns:
• ISBN(s)/ASIN(s): the entries in this column include the International Standard Book
Number(s) (“ISBN(s)”) and/or Amazon Standard Identification Number(s) (“ASIN(s)”) that
Class Counsel was able to identify. Class Counsel generally identified these numbers from some
combination of (a) the raw text of the files downloaded by Anthropic, (b) the metadata
associated with the LibGen and/or PiLiMi downloads, and (c) ISBN(s) listed on the official
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Questions? Visit www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com or call 1-877-206-2314
copyright registration or other publicly available databases of ISBN information, primarily
Bowker Books Data and/or ISBNdb.
o ISBNs are either 10 digits or, more commonly, 13 digits. A given ISBN identifies a
specific edition and format (e.g., e-book or trade paperback) of a book.
▪ Note: This column may contain a single ISBN or multiple ISBNs. Further, other
ISBNs for a given work may exist that are not listed on the Works List because
(1) those other ISBNs did not correspond to the specific edition and/or format
of the file downloaded by Anthropic, (2) they were not identifiable within the
files downloaded by Anthropic, and/or (3) they were not listed on the copyright
registration. Each work on the Works List is eligible for a single Settlement
payment, regardless of how many ISBNs are associated with that work.
o ASINs are 10 digits. By design, all 10-digit ISBNs are also valid ASINs. However, unlike
ISBNs, ASINs may also start with letters, most commonly “B.” Each work on the Works
List is eligible for a single per-work award (potentially split among multiple legal or
beneficial owners), regardless of how many ASINs are associated with that work.
• “Copyright-Registered” Columns: In general, each of these columns—“Copyright-
Registered Title,” “Copyright-Registered Author(s),” and “Copyright-Registered
Claimant(s)”—was sourced from the information listed on publicly available records of the
United States Copyright Office associated with the “Copyright Registration Number.”
o Works registered after 1978 (including renewal registrations) can be viewed at
https://publicrecords.copyright.gov/.
o Works registered before 1978 can generally be viewed either at
https://www.copyright.gov/vcc/ or https://archive.org/details/copyrightrecords?tab=collection,
though the search interface can be more difficult to navigate for works registered
before 1978.
• “Identified” Columns: In general, each of these columns—“Identified Publisher(s),”
“Identified Title,” and “Identified Author(s)”—was sourced from publicly available databases
of ISBN information, primarily Bowker Books Data and/or ISBNdb. Such databases are
publishing industry-standard tools for compiling, tracking, and reporting publisher, title, and
author information on a per-ISBN basis. The information in these columns was also
supplemented with manual review where appropriate.
o Occasionally, the information in these “Identified” columns may differ from what is
listed on the “Copyright-Registered” columns. This is often (but not always) due to a
change in edition or format. For example, a later edition of a textbook may have
additional authors. Claimants may file a claim for a given work at
www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com regardless of the column in which they
find their information.
● “Copyright Registration Number”: This is the Copyright Registration Number for the work
that was identified in the official records of the United States Copyright Office.
o Materials registered after 1978 (including renewal registrations)can be viewed at
https://publicrecords.copyright.gov/.
o Materials registered before 1978 can be viewed either at https://www.copyright.gov/vcc/
or https://archive.org/details/copyrightrecords?tab=collection, though the search interface can
be more difficult to navigate for works registered before 1978.
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● “Education Work”: This column identifies whether a work is an “Education Work.” Education
Works are those published by education publishers. Education publishers specialize in creating
and publishing works, including but not limited to textbooks, for the instruction of students and
professionals, which are distributed for and through educational and professional markets.
Please see Questions 21–27 for more information.
54. When I look up my works on the Works List Lookup (www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com/lookup)
on the Settlement Website, I see an unexpected individual or entity listed as a publisher/author.
Why are they listed?
In our efforts to make the Works List as comprehensive and accurate as possible, Class Counsel
drew from several different databases. In addition to author and publisher information, these databases often
included information for individuals or entities who are associated with a work but may not own any rights
to that particular work. For example, the databases may have identified a narrator of an audiobook who is
not a legal or beneficial owner (and therefore not a Class Member).
Though the Works List may reference individuals or entities you do not recognize, the presence of
non-owners on the Works List has no effect on your ownership or your right to file a claim or the amount
of payments due to legal and beneficial owners. The Settlement Administrator will determine the validity
of each claim, including verifying that non-owners will not be paid. Anyone who thinks they may be a legal
or beneficial owner of a work on the Works List may file a claim.
55. Why is my real name listed next to my pen name? Please remove my real name that is not on
my public U.S. copyright registration.
As set forth in Questions 49–54, the information on the Works List was compiled from several
publicly available sources, including from the copyright pages in printed books and from the works’ U.S.
copyright registrations. Such records often already list an author’s real name (legal name) and the author’s
pen name (pseudonym). And, persons with a claim to a given work may find that work best by searching
for one name or the other.
As a result and by court order, no real name will be removed from a work’s public listing in the
Works List Lookup if it already is on the work’s public U.S. copyright registration or on the copyright page
of the printed book. Also, court records are presumptively public. At the end of this Settlement, the record
of final payments made to Class Members will be public and will include the real names of the recipients,
again by court order.
So, if your work was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office such that only your pseudonym (and
NOT your real name) is revealed publicly on the U.S. copyright registration, then the Court will allow the
Works List Lookup to be amended such that only your pseudonym (and NOT your real name) is revealed
there, too. Otherwise, real names will remain publicly displayed on the Works List Lookup.
For your request to be approved, you will need to provide:
compelling reasons to remove your real name
proof of your pen name (pseudonym) and your real name (legal name)
proof you are the author in question who corresponds to both names
any agreement from others like your publisher to the removal, and
copies of the U.S. copyright registration for the work and of the copyright page of your
work as published.
Contact Class Counsel to make your request (they are listed in response to Question 37). Class
Counsel will then submit your request on your behalf to the Court with all your submitted documents
attached. That filing initially will be sealed.
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Questions? Visit www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com or call 1-877-206-2314
Please note that the Court may deny and unseal part or all of your request without further notice if
the Court decides it was not made for sufficiently compelling reasons.
Either way, if you file a claim for an award in this Settlement, you must then submit your legal
name and your pseudonym for that purpose. And, if the Settlement is approved and if an award is paid to
you, your real name will become public (see also Question 26).
Getting More Information
56. Are more details about the Settlement available?
Yes. The information in this Settlement Notice is only a summary of the Settlement.
You can get more detailed information, including links to a copy of the Class Action Complaint,
the notice, Claim Form, motion for preliminary settlement approval, responses to questions raised by the
Court in connection with a preliminary approval hearing, preliminary approval order, motion for final
settlement approval (when filed), and motion for attorneys’ fees and costs, the Settlement Agreement, and
other important case documents at www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com.
If you have questions regarding the Settlement or need personal assistance completing the
Claim Form you can contact the Settlement Administrator at 877-206-2314 or
[email protected].
To learn more information about the Settlement you can visit the Settlement Website at
www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com or contact any of the lawyers listed in response to Question 37.
You can access the Court’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system at
https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/, or by visiting the office of the Clerk of the Court for the United States District
Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Courthouse, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, excluding Court holidays.
You may also seek the advice and counsel of your own attorney at your own expense, if you desire.
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Questions? Visit www.AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com or call 1-877-206-2314
