Anthropic AI: your questions answered

News

2 October 2025

by SoA Policy Team

SoA Policy Team

Promoting the interests of authors through public campaigns, political and industry lobbying, and working with partners.

Search works that are included

We continue in our promise to keep you up to date on the latest developments in the Anthropic case in the US. This is a class action consisting of authors and publishers who claim that their copyright was infringed by Anthropic PBC, which used books from pirate websites Library Genesis (“LibGen”) and Pirate Library Mirror (“PiLiMi”) without permission to train their Large Language Models. Read the Author’s Guild ‘What Authors Need To Know’ for more details.

A searchable works list has been released to identify the authors’ works that were stolen by US Corporation Anthropic, to train its AI models. It includes UK authors whose works were copied without their permission or payment. The searchable tool allows authors to find out if their works are included.

Over 600 of you have been in touch via our form to let us know that your work is on the list and, although we cannot provide legal advice on this matter, we are working hard to bring you the latest information and answer any questions you might have.

/////////// Authors can file a claim via the Settlement website. Many Society of Authors’ members are on the list, although the scale of UK authors works used is not yet known.

The SoA cannot provide legal advice to authors on this matter or advise whether submitting a claim is the right decision for them.

At this time we are liaising with Class Counsel and JND, as well as with our US counterparts at the US Authors’ Guild. We will collate all issues and concerns members report to us and we will raise questions about the process based on member feedback with the lawyers directly.

We have compiled the Authors Questions below, based on questions already received from members using advice from the Lawyers at JND acting as Administrator. //////////////

If there are questions you can’t find an answer to below or on the settlement website, do send them to publicaffairs@societyofauthors.org – any questions we can’t answer directly, we will raise with the lawyers.

Author Questions

The Class consists of all sole, legal or beneficial copyright owners of the books included in the Settlement.

The Class includes publishers, authors (including estates), and academic institutions.

See FAQ 8 on the settlement administrator’s website for definitions of Legal owner, Beneficial owner and Sole owner.

The searchable database of works is here: https://secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/?_gl=1igl4zy_gcl_auMjEzMDQ0MTk5Ni4xNzU5Mzg2OTI5

You can search by author, title, ISBN or publisher.

If your books appear in the database, you can submit a claim form. A claim can be submitted by any author worldwide (an author who makes a claim does not need to be resident in the U.S.).

To qualify, your book or work must:

have been downloaded by Anthropic from LibGen or PiLiMi;

have an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) or Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN);

have been registered with the United States Copyright Office within five years of publication; and

have been registered before being downloaded by Anthropic, or within three months of publication.

The deadline to opt-out of this settlement is 7 January 2026 if you do not wish to take part.

The deadline for objecting to the settlement terms is also 7 January 2026. See FAQ 44 & 45 for an explanation of objections.

The deadline for submitting claims to join the settlement is 26 March 2026. All Claim Forms must be submitted by this date. Forms can be sent electronically through the settlement administrator’s website or by regular post.

See:

https://www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/dates

PDF Claim Form

Not all works that were downloaded from these pirated databases have been included in this class. Those included were in the database at a particular timeframe when it is alleged that Anthropic downloaded the content Anthropic (up to July 2021). 

The list was created by cross-checking Anthropic’s file downloads from LibGen and PiLiMi with (1) United States Copyright Office records and (2) industry-wide ISBN databases. 

In many cases, the claimants’ attorneys and experts used manual review to ensure that every book that satisfied the Class definition in FAQ 5 was included.

See FAQ 49, FAQ 50, FAQ 51, and FAQ 52  for more information about the works on the Works List.

Like Anthropic, Meta is also known to have accessed LibGen to train it’s AI model. However, it is alleged that these downloads for AI training took place in different time periods.

So if your work was included in Atlantic’s exposure of LibGen it confirms that it has been pirated and stored on the LibGen database, but in this case only works downloaded by Anthropic before July 2021 and meet the criteria of the Class definition in FAQ 5 .

See FAQ 12.

Anthropic will pay $1.5 billion into the Settlement fund. However, the final amount you receive as an author will depend on a number of factors, including how the legal/beneficial owners of the work are shared with a publisher and how many valid claims are submitted by other copyright holders.

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).

The settlement administrators have calculated that each work might claim $3,000 – but this is dependent on how many claimants per work, and how fees are spilt after legal costs.

The Settlement administrators have agreed to use a 50/50 split – unless authors have a contract which details a different amount in which any legal settlement is shared.

If you are an author, the publishers and/or other authors who are legal or beneficial owners of the work will be asked to submit a Claim Form for the same work.

The forms ask authors to check with their publishing contracts how this is split and to note this on your Claim Form with proof (the contract), if it differs from a 50/50 share.

Please read the Claim Form for full details and refer to FAQ 11, 12 and 19-30 on the settlement administrator’s website.

See Section D of the Claim Form

See FAQ 14 and 15.

If you opt-out of this Settlement, you retain any claims you may have against Anthropic.

But if you do not opt out, you will not be able to bring a lawsuit against Anthropic for any of the legal claims released by the Class Action Settlement Agreement.

Authors should ensure they understand these limitations this before signing up.

See FAQ

If you do not want to be included in the Settlement, then you may “opt out” of it. 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.

The SoA is not a rightsholder and does not have standing to bring a copyright infringement claim against AI companies in the UK (similarly, the SoA’s U.S. counterpart, the Authors’ Guild, was not a Plaintiff in the action brought against Anthropic).

We are aware that a number of law firms have indicated that they wish to pursue claims for copyright infringement against AI companies and we are continuing to meet with them to receive updates, particularly in relation to whether such actions might be funded so that there is no costs risk for authors who join any such actions. We will provide further information to our members as it becomes available.

The settlement administrator’s website estimates that initial payments should start to be made by August 10, 2026. Payments may be made by instalment. This process is subject to change as is dependent on the number of claims made in respect of a work and the timing of Anthropic’s instalment payments into the Settlement Fund, as described in on the settlement administrator’s website .

If this is appealed, it could take longer. Please see the settlement administrator’s website for updates.

The Claim Form also allows claimants to submit information for international wire payments. If you have any questions about payments, please contact the administrator.

If you find your work on the list, the number you need for US Copyright Registration is shown in the fifth column.

The list was created by cross-checking Anthropic’s file downloads from LibGen and PiLiMi with (1) United States Copyright Office records and (2) industry-wide ISBN databases. 

For work to be included in the Class it must have been registered for US Copyright.

For UK authors whose work was not registered at the US Office, this will be disappointing. If you are concerned that this should have been registered, please contact your publisher.

You may wish to consider registering your work for US Copyright in future or take advice about how to do this.

Translators can claim if they are a legal or beneficial owner of the reproduction rights of the work. See FAQ 8. If your name does not appear on the works list but you have contracts to prove your legal and contractual rights to the work, you can still complete the claim form and send the details to be part of the Claim.

If you think you are a legal or beneficial owner for a work, you can submit a claim. The Claim Form will allow you to submit documentation to support your legal or beneficial ownership.

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 FAQ 8 ) the Claim Form requires you to either provide any contact information you have or can readily obtain for any other rightsholders or certify that you have already, separately submitted such contact information to the Settlement Administrator or to Class Counsel.

The administrators have a duty to inform all identified authors or claimants to the case.

If you do nothing, one of three 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 a payment, you might receive a payment, even if you do not submit a Claim Form.

If another rightsholder opts your work out, 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.

See FAQ 40

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.

The SoA recommend that authors consider all the details. All involved will have to make their own determination, but the law firm, JND are able to discuss this with potential claimants. Please email info@AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com

Let us know if you’ve been affected

The Society of Authors is creating a list of members who are included on this list to help us gauge how many UK members are affected. If you have found your work listed, please consider recording your details on the form below. The information will remain confidential and will only be used for our ongoing public affairs work, unless you inform us otherwise.

NB: Filling in this form is purely to inform our campaign work, it is NOT part of filing a claim in the Anthropic Settlement

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