Topics

Screw the money — Anthropic’s $1.5B copyright settlement sucks for

Most Popular

OpenAI announces AI-powered hiring platform to take on LinkedIn

Tesla’s 4th ‘Master Plan’ reads like LLM-generated nonsense

BMW, I am so breaking up with you

Homicide at Burning Man turns Silicon Valley’s desert playground into a crime scene

Nvidia says two mystery customers accounted for 39% of Q2 revenue

Cracks are forming in Meta’s partnership with Scale AI

Mastodon says it doesn’t ‘have the means’ to comply with age verification laws

Latest

Amazon

Apps

Biotech & Health

Climate

Cloud Computing

Commerce

Crypto

Enterprise

EVs

Fintech

Fundraising

Gadgets

Gaming

Google

Government & Policy

Hardware

Instagram

Layoffs

Media & Entertainment

Meta

Microsoft

Privacy

Robotics

Security

Social

Space

Startups

TikTok

Transportation

Venture

Events

Startup Battlefield

StrictlyVC

Newsletters

Podcasts

Videos

Partner Content

TechCrunch Brand Studio

Crunchboard

Screw the money — Anthropic’s $1.5B copyright settlement sucks for Amanda Silberling PM PDT · September 5, 2025 Around half a million

This landmark settlement marks the largest payout in the history of U.S. copyright law, but this isn’t a victory for

Tech giants are racing to amass as much written material as possible to train their LLMs, which power groundbreaking AI chat products like ChatGPT and Claude — the same products that are endangering the creative industries, even if their outputs are milquetoast. These AIs can become more sophisticated when they ingest more data, but after scraping basically the entire internet, these companies are literally running out of new information.

That’s why Anthropic, the company behind Claude, pirated millions of books from “shadow libraries” and fed them into its AI. This particular lawsuit, Bartz v. Anthropic, is one of dozens filed against companies like Meta, Google, OpenAI, and Midjourney over the legality of training AI on copyrighted works.

But

In June, federal judge William Alsup sided with Anthropic and ruled that it is, indeed, legal to train AI on copyrighted material. The judge argues that this use case is “transformative” enough to be protected

“Like any reader aspiring to be a

It was the piracy — not the AI training — that moved Judge Alsup to bring the case to trial, but with Anthropic’s settlement, a trial is no longer necessary.

“Today’s settlement, if approved, will resolve the plaintiffs’ remaining legacy claims,” said Aparna Sridhar, deputy general counsel at Anthropic, in a statement. “We remain committed to developing safe AI systems that help people and organizations extend their capabilities, advance scientific discovery, and solve complex problems.”

As dozens more cases over the relationship between AI and copyrighted works go to court, judges now have Bartz v. Anthropic to reference as a precedent. But given the ramifications of these decisions, maybe another judge will arrive at a different conclusion.

Topics

Amanda Silberling Senior

Amanda Silberling is a senior

Send tips through Signal, an encrypted messaging app, to .100. For anything else or to verify outreach, email amanda.com.

October 27-29, 2025 San Francisco Put your brand in front of 10,000+ tech and VC leaders across all three days of Disrupt 2025. Amplify your reach, spark real connections, and lead the innovation charge. Secure your exhibit space before your competitor does.Last day to book is September 5

Most Popular OpenAI announces AI-powered hiring platform to take on LinkedIn Maxwell Zeff

Tesla’s 4th ‘Master Plan’ reads like LLM-generated nonsense Sean O'Kane

BMW, I am so breaking up with you Connie Loizos

Homicide at Burning Man turns Silicon Valley’s desert playground into a crime scene Connie Loizos

Nvidia says two mystery customers accounted for 39% of Q2 revenue Anthony Ha

Cracks are forming in Meta’s partnership with Scale AI Maxwell Zeff Marina Temkin

Mastodon says it doesn’t ‘have the means’ to comply with age verification laws Sarah Perez

X LinkedIn Facebook Instagram youTube Mastodon Threads Bluesky TechCrunchStaffContact UsAdvertiseCrunchboard JobsSite Map Terms of ServicePrivacy PolicyRSS Terms of UseCode of Conduct TelsaAnthropicTelexKlarnaMrBeastTech LayoffsChatGPT © 2025 TechCrunch Media LLC.