Over 100 authors have filed a lawsuit against Anthropic, an AI firm based in San Francisco, seeking more than $75 million. They allege that the company has unlawfully used their books to enhance its AI systems.
The case, initiated on June 17 in Northern California District Court, accuses Anthropic—known for partnerships with big names like Microsoft and Amazon—of using over 500 pirated titles, including Tiffany Arich’s “Get Good with Money,” a New York Times bestseller, and the classic “Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel.
Among those claiming copyright infringement are notable figures like Nolan Bushnell, co-founder of Atari, Zachary Sklar, a screenwriter nominated for an Academy Award for JFK, and Newbery Medal recipient Donna Barba Higuera.
The authors are reportedly seeking $150,000 per pirated book.
The accusations detail that Anthropic used a file-sharing service, BitTorrent, to gain access to illegal sites like Library Genesis and Pirate Library Mirror, downloading millions of unauthorized titles.
Anthropic, the creator of the AI assistant Claude, allegedly incorporated these works into its extensive digital library for AI training.
Notably, these authors chose to opt out of a previous class action against Anthropic, which ended in a $1.5 billion settlement in September.
This earlier lawsuit included individuals such as Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson, who claimed their works were similarly misappropriated to train the Claude AI model.
As part of that settlement, Anthropic committed to eliminating downloadable copies of the disputed books but remains vulnerable to further copyright claims regarding AI-generated content.
Interestingly, in the present lawsuit, the authors argue that Anthropic not only stole their copyrighted materials but also redistributed them.
As lead attorney James Bartolemay pointed out, “Anthropic has built the future of artificial intelligence based on the books of past, present, and living authors.” He added, “My clients ask a simple question: Is it innovation or theft through better marketing? Let the jury decide.”
Anthropic has yet to provide a comment on the matter.
