Authors, check the Anthropic copyright settlement

I recently got a thick package from Anthropic about their copyright settlement. The creator of Claude was sued by a group of authors who won a groundbreaking settlement of $1.5 billion.

The case revealed Anthropic has used two databases of pirated books to train their LLM model, Claude. BTW those same databases were used by Meta, OpenAI, and other AI firms.

Anthropic set up this handy webpage where any author can look for their books:

https://secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup

There I found my non-fiction book, White Papers For Dummies.

But that book and many others like it were done as “work for hire” so the publisher John Wiley & Sons owns the copyright.

That means the publisher will collect for this copyright infringement, not me.

At least Anthropic is paying. And this case sets a wonderful precedent for the scores of similar lawsuits underway.

I fully expect Grok, OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and other firms who helped themselves to any databases of pirated books will be found guilty as well.

So if you’re an author, stay on top of these cases. Always check for your books. You stand to gain several thousand dollars in payouts, which you richly deserve.

The AI companies stole your book(s) without asking permission, without giving you credit, and without making any payment. That’s wrong, and it’s illegal.

If you’re ever talking with someone who says copyright is no big deal, here are a few points you can make.

1. Authors spend anywhere from six months to several years working on any book.

2. Copyright laws help authors earn something from that effort.
   These laws say your creations are your property until you make a deal to transfer them to someone else.

3. Most copyright owners are not giant corporations like Disney or Sony.
   Those are a tiny fraction of all copyright owners.

4. Most copyright owners are individuals who write articles, books, plays, songs, or software.

5. Digital technology makes it quick and easy to steal books. But that doesn’t make it legal. Or ethical.

6. After you work hard on something for months or years, would you like someone else to steal it?

Of course, as a writer you don’t need any convincing. But many people from other walks of life do. So don’t be shy if the subject comes up.

Every writer has a stake in this issue, and if you’re a published author, you deserve to see some money from the AI companies that used your work.