Context: Earlier this month, Judge William H. Alsup of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California told Claude AI maker Anthropic and a class of book authors that the proposed settlement of their copyright infringement dispute was not ripe for approval (September 9, 2025 ai fray article). The proposed settlement, first announced last month (August 26, 2025 ai fray article), involves a minimum payment of $1.5 billion ($3,000 per book), among other terms. But Judge Alsup requested that the parties make clarifications for the class list and works list, as well as the claim form and claims procedure. The next hearing has been scheduled for September 25.
What’s new: Last night, the parties filed a new supplemental brief in support of the motion for approval of the settlement, as well as 15 declarations from 20 different executives in the book writing industry.
Direct impact and wider ramifications: The declarations have been filed on behalf of individuals from all corners of the industry, from national unions to literary agencies to non-profit novelist organizations, signalling how widespread the support in reaching a settlement in this case really is. While Judge Alsup had ordered the parties to clarify several parts of the proposed settlement, this level of support could significantly affect the outcome of Thursday’s hearing.
Here is the supplemental brief filed in support of the motion for preliminary approval of the class settlement:
The plaintiffs have requested that the court:
- grant preliminary approval of the settlement between the class (already-certified) and Anthropic;
- approve the proposed Plan of Allocation and Distribution;
- appoint JND Legal as the Settlement Administrator and approve the proposed Notice Plan;
- and schedule a Final Approval Hearing.
They note in the brief that the settlement would provide an “extraordinary” monetary recovery to the class, release only certain past claims, and require the permanent destruction of the two allegedly pirated datasets. They emphasize that they have worked “around the clock” to address Judge Alsup’s initial concerns and believe those issues have been sufficiently resolved.
Here is Andrea Bartz’s (the lead plaintiff) declaration:
Ms. Bartz emphasizes how she felt “violated and harmed” by the way Anthropic had allegedly pirated his intellectual property. This settlement, she notes, is a win for the publishing industry, and the works included in the case represent hundreds of millions of hours of labor and “immeasurable” dedication, creativity, vulnerability, and “grit” from both authors and publishers. Together, she adds, authors and publishers are sending a message to AI companies:
“You are not above the law, and our intellectual property isn’t yours for the taking.”
The next declaration is from co-class representative Charles Graeber:
In his declaration, Mr. Graeber underlined the numerous redeye cross-country flights he caught to be able to attend meetings, depositions, and court hearings – as part of his “obligation” was to bear witness and “ensure that [their] human work had a human presence in court”.
Mr. Graeber also warned that their work has “only just begun”:
“I’m already hearing from other authors, many with questions. This case has international attention, and it will be our duty to represent the settlement to authors, our fellow stakeholders, and the public at large, further reinforcing this important ruling on the inviolability of copyright, and the inviolability of laws regarding piracy.”
A third example of a declaration is by the third co-class representative Kirk Wallace Johnson:
Mr. Johnson also emphasized how important the settlement was:
“An important moment for the legal and moral framework that has bound us to each other since we started telling each other stories: that it’s wrong to steal; that the system of justice protects us from those that ignore it, and that we don’t have to sacrifice everything we once valued on the altar of big tech.”
Counsel for the Authors’ Coordination Nancy E. Wolff (Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP) and counsel for the Publishers’ Coordination Counsel Jay Edelson and Matthew J. Oppenheim (Edelson PC and Oppenheim + Zebrak, LLP), also filed declarations. The latter two reminded the court that they have deep experience in AI cases, including by representing governments in first-of-their-kind enforcement actions tackling harm to teens from social media (such as American Civil Liberties Union v. Clearview AI).
A variety of other members of the industry filed declarations, including:
- Peter M. Berkery, Jr. (Executive Director of the Association of University Presses
- John Degen (Chief Executive Officer of The Writers’ Union of Canada)
- Matthew Fulton (Director of Business Affairs for Writers House)
- Anna Ganley (Chief Executive for the UK Society of Authors)
- Bridget Shine (Chief Executive of the Independent Publishers Guild
- Catriona Stevenson (General Counsel and Deputy CEO of The Publishers Association)
- Tom West (Chief Executive of Publishers’ Licensing Services
- Maria A. Pallante (President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers)
- Jennifer M. Keough (CEO, President of JND Legal Administration LLC)
Declarations were also filed on behalf of a host of non-profit author organizations, including:
- Margaret Lynn Morrison (member of NINC and board-appointed representative to coalitions organized by the Authors Guild)
- Jacki Renée (President of Romance Writers of America )
- Kate Ristau (President of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America )
- Julie A. Hennrikus (Executive Director of Sisters in Crime )
- Mary E. Rasenberger (CEO of the Authors Guild)
Together, they filed a joint statement noting that neither they, nor the organizations they serve, are receiving any direct benefits from the settlement. They emphasized, however, that their members and publishers stand to receive “important consideration” and each of them is willing to disseminate any approved class notice to their members and direct members to the settlement website or to class counsel.
Counsel
The plaintiffs are being represented by a team at Susman Godfrey: Justin A. Nelson (lead counsel), Rohit Nath, Samir Doshi, Michael Adamson, and J. Craig Smyser, as well as Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein’s Rachel Geman (co-lead counsel), Daniel M. Hutchinson, Jacob S. Miller, Jallé Daffa, and Elizabeth Cabraser, and New York University law professor Samuel Issacharoff.Meanwhile, Anthropic is being represented by Arnold & Porter’s Joseph Farris and Douglas Winthrop, as well as Morrison & Foerster’s Daralyn Durie.