Six Authors Rejected the Anthropic Settlement. They Want $150,000 a Book Instead.
Pulitzer winner John Carreyrou and five other writers opted out of the largest AI copyright settlement in history, betting that individual lawsuits will pay more than the $3,000-per-book deal most authors accepted.
While more than 440,000 authors and publishers filed claims under the $1.5 billion Anthropic settlement, a small group decided the number was too low. Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner John Carreyrou and five other writers opted out entirely, filing individual copyright suits against Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, Meta, xAI, and Perplexity in December 2025.
Their claim is direct: the companies trained large language models on books copied from pirate libraries including LibGen, Z-Library, and OceanofPDF, without permission, licensing, or payment. Under the Copyright Act, they are seeking statutory damages of $150,000 per title, per defendant — a figure that dwarfs the roughly $3,000 per book the Anthropic settlement pays out.
Why They Didn't Settle
The Anthropic settlement resolved a class action on behalf of authors broadly. Opting out preserves an individual's right to sue separately, but it also means giving up a guaranteed payout for the uncertainty of a trial. Carreyrou and the others are betting that a jury, weighing statutory damages designed to punish willful infringement, will award more than a class settlement ever could.
The suit is unusual in structure. It was filed collectively but is not a class action — each author is pursuing their own claim and, if the cases proceed, their own jury trial.
AT A GLANCE • Original suit filed: December 22, 2025, Northern District of California • Plaintiffs: John Carreyrou and five other authors who opted out of the Anthropic settlement • Original defendants: Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, Meta, xAI, Perplexity, Apple, Nvidia • Alleged sources: LibGen, Z-Library, OceanofPDF • Damages sought: $150,000 per title, per defendant • June 8, 2026: Judge Pitts severed claims against Google, xAI, Perplexity, Apple, and Nvidia into separate actions; only the Anthropic claim remains in the original suit • Not a class action — each author is pursuing an individual jury trial |
The Case Gets Split Apart
On June 8, 2026, Judge Pitts issued a ruling that reshaped the case. The claims against Google, xAI, Perplexity, and two companies that were also named, Apple and Nvidia, were dismissed from the original suit and severed into separate individual actions. Only the claim against Anthropic remains in the case as originally filed.
The practical effect: instead of one lawsuit against six companies, the authors now face six separate legal fights, each starting largely from where the original filing left off.
What This Signals
The severance ruling does not resolve whether the authors will win more than $3,000 a book. It does confirm that courts are treating each AI company's alleged conduct as legally distinct, even when the underlying claim — training on pirated books — is the same across all of them.
For authors watching the broader wave of AI litigation, the case is a reminder that the Anthropic settlement was not the final word. It was one outcome among several still being tested in court.
Six authors decided a guaranteed $3,000 a book wasn't worth what they thought their work was worth. Whether a jury agrees with that math is now the actual question, spread across six separate courtrooms instead of one. WriteO News, August 2026 |
WHAT WRITERS CAN TAKE FROM THIS • Opting out of a class settlement is a real choice, not just a technicality — it trades a guaranteed payout for the chance at a larger one, with real risk attached • Statutory damages under the Copyright Act can run far higher than a negotiated settlement figure — $150,000 per title is the ceiling these authors are testing • Courts are treating each AI company's conduct separately even in claims that look similar — a win or loss against one company will not automatically apply to another • This litigation is ongoing across multiple fronts simultaneously — the Anthropic settlement, the Google suit, and these individual cases are separate legal tests of the same underlying question |
If your work ever ends up disputed in a case like this, the paper trail matters most. WriteO's Version History keeps every draft timestamped automatically, so proving what you wrote and when never depends on memory or luck.
Sources: Publishers Weekly, December 23, 2025 | TechCrunch, December 23, 2025 | Bloomberg Law | chatgptiseatingtheworld.com