AGM Week: Industry Insider – Anthropic settlement

Do you have questions about the action brought by a number of authors in the U.S. against Anthropic? What does the settlement mean for UK authors?  What are the implications of the settlement for the other actions being brought in the U.S. against AI companies? Here’s your opportunity to put your questions, in advance and on the day, to a panel of experts at our online townhall event.

General Counsel, Keith Ashby, will be in conversation with Jallé H. Dafa of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein and Michael Adamson of Susman Godfrey, attorneys for the Plaintiffs in the action brought by a number of authors in the U.S. against Anthropic.

The panel will be discussing the background to the U.S. action; the route by which settlement terms were reached; practical considerations for U.K. authors who may be eligible to participate in the settlement; and the possible implications for other actions which are being brought in the U.S. against AI companies.

#SoAatHome Industry Insider events – free for all + donation

As of Feb 2025, our #SoAatHome industry insider events will be free for all but with a donation option when registering for the event.

All donations made go towards the Society of Authors’ Access Fund. The fund is to help provide authors support for travel, subsistence, childcare or access needs for events, residencies, and retreats. If you would like to make a donation with your booking, please do so when registering for the event below.

AGM Week 2025: Author Care

With discussions around transparency, support and inclusion, communication and self-care, we ask how authors and publishing professionals can work better together and how authors can find support if they need it. Author Care Week follows the launch of the Society of Authors’ new digital resource, Author Care: A Toolkit for Authors.

Download the digital resource via our website.

From an Industry Insider, online social and a Feel Good Friday workshop. You can also pop into the SoA Space to update your author photo at a special discounted member rate. 

#SoAatHome

• Industry Insider – the big conversation: Author Care | Monday 17 November, 11.00-12.00
• Industry Insider – Anthropic settlement | Tuesday 18 November, 18.00-19.00
• AGM online member social | Wednesday 19 November, 11.00-12.00
• SoA’s Annual General Meeting | Thursday 20 November, 17.00
• Feel Good Friday – How to love the hands and body you write with – Alexander Technique | Friday 21 November, 11.00-11.45

SoA in Person

• Author Photos | Tuesday 18 November, 10.00-16.00 | SoA Space, Bedford Row

Programme

• Welcome, introductions and housekeeping from Keith Asby – General Counsel, SoA (3 mins)
• Panel discussion with Jallé H. Dafa, Michael Adamson and Keith Ashby (20 mins)
• Q&A with questions about the proceedings/the settlement submitted in advance (20 mins)
• Q&A with audience (15 mins)
• Summary and closing comments (2 mins)
• This event will be moderated by Ambre Morvan – Senior Policy and Public Affairs Manager and Contracts Advisor, SoA

What will this session cover?

To highlight the continuing work of the SoA in relation to AI.

Who is this session for? 

This is for anyone who has an interest in the Anthropic settlement and what it means for UK authors.  Specifically, this will be of interest to those whose works have been stolen by AI, and those who are hoping to make a claim against Anthropic in their settlement.

The Line up

Keith Ashby | SoA

Keith joined SoA in 2024 as our Legal Counsel.

Jallé H. Dafa | Partner, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP

Jallé H. Dafa represents consumers and workers in high-stakes class action litigation.

A partner in Lieff Cabraser’s San Francisco office, Jallé has prosecuted several winning cases. She represented professors against Duke University and the University of North Carolina for conspiring to suppress the mobility and pay of their faculty. The litigation settled for a total of $73.5 million and significant injunctive relief.

Jallé has litigated against AT&T for charging hidden fees, Allstate for price discrimination in auto insurance premiums, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Natera for using a defective solution during the testing of irreplaceable human embryos, and Kaiser Permanente for racially discriminating against Black employees. She also successfully challenged the Trump Administration’s unlawful decision to withhold COVID-19 CARES Act stimulus relief from incarcerated Americans and their families. The district court granted summary judgment and entered a permanent injunction ordering the government to terminate its policy, resulting in $1.5 billion in economic impact payments to plaintiffs.

Michael Adamson | Partner, Susman Godfrey

Trial lawyer Michael Adamson has been recognized by Daily Journal as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California (2025) and a Top 40 Lawyer Under 40 (2022), by Law.com as a Lawyer on the Fast Track (2025), and by National Law Journal as a Plaintiff’s Attorney Trailblazer (2023). Michael is a versatile litigator representing plaintiffs and defendants in arbitrations and federal and state courts across the country.

In a “historic” copyright infringement action, Adamson and a team from Susman Godfrey secured a $1.5 billion settlement for rightsholders whose books were downloaded by Anthropic from pirated databases “Library Genesis” and “Pirate Library Mirror.” This settlement is the largest publicly reported recovery in the history of U.S. copyright litigation. When preliminarily approving the settlement, Judge Alsup said, “We have some of the best lawyers in America in the courtroom right now.” Read more in Bloomberg and Law.com

Send us your questions

Please send your questions in advance to publicaffairs@societyofauthors.org and include ‘Anthropic Settlement Townhall’ in the subject header. We will also endeavour to answer as many questions as we can from the audience on the day.

#SoAatHome Fundraising Bookshop

Browse our virtual Bookshop.org store featuring books by authors and speakers taking part in the #SoAatHome. When you make a purchase using our affiliate links, a percentage will go to the Society of Authors’ Access Fund, giving authors support for travel, subsistence, childcare or access needs for events, residencies, and retreats.

Need to know

Accessibility

• Attendees will have the option to turn on the live transcript, to watch with subtitles.
• This event will have BSL Interpretation provided by Tracey Tyer and Anne-Marie Marray.

Before the eventi

• Once registered, you will be sent a confirmation email with the Zoom link
• If the confirmation email doesn’t arrive in your inbox, please check your junk/spam email folder
• Please add events@societyofauthors.org to your Safe Senders list so you receive our confirmation and reminder emails

During the event

• This online event will take place on Zoom Webinar. You will not be on screen.
• This event is 60 minutes

After the event

• Hashtag for this event: #SoAatHome
• Attendees will be able to catch the recording on our Vimeo channel

Booking

Please either use the form titled ‘Register – no donation’ or the option of the different ticket options with a donation amount depending on how much you would like to donate towards the Society of Authors Access Fund.