Anthropic’s Landmark Copyright Settlement: Implications for AI Developers and Enterprise Users
By Regina Sam Penti, Matthew J. Rizzolo, Yam Schaal, Ropes & Grey, September 8, 2025
Overview
Anthropic, a leading developer of artificial intelligence large language models (LLMs), has reached a settlement in a closely watched dispute with a class of authors and publishers who alleged copyright infringement arising from Anthropic’s use of copyrighted materials to train its generative AI models. The settlement, if approved, will be the largest publicly reported copyright recovery in history, and could set a new benchmark for other AI-related litigations or licensing disputes. This alert summarizes the key terms of the proposed settlement and analyzes its broader implications for AI developers, enterprise users, and rights holders in the AI ecosystem.
Background
The settlement stems from Bartz et al. v. Anthropic PBC, a case brought in the Northern District of California. Plaintiffs alleged that Anthropic used copyrighted content from their books to train Anthropic’s Claude LLMs without proper authorization. The copyrighted content included books that Anthropic purchased, scanned to create digitized versions, and then ultimately destroyed. In addition, Anthropic allegedly used over seven million digital copies of books acquired from pirating sites such as Library Genesis (“LibGen”) and Pirate Library Mirror (“PiLiMi”) to train its Claude LLMs. Plaintiffs claimed that Anthropic’s practices violated copyright law and sought damages as well as injunctive relief. Anthropic maintained that its conduct fell within the bounds of fair use and was essential for the development of competitive AI technologies.
