Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin held the hearing for the final approval of the class settlement in Bartz v. Anthropic, which was also live-streamed.
Class Counsel Justin Nelson said the payout per work in the class will be $3,100. The class had 92.77% of participation rate for the works in the works list.
David Hansen of Authors Alliance has already published an excellent summary of everything that transpired.
In a hearing that might seem almost anti-climactic, the Judge heard from 7 objectors, each of whom spoke for 2 minutes (except 5 minutes to an attorney James Bartolomei who spoke for several objectors).
The Judge also questioned the Class Counsel, Justin Nelson and Rachel Geman, about various amounts sought by them for the service awards to named plaintiffs/book authors, cost reserve, attorneys’ fees and fee multiplier.
Judge Martinez-Olguin also wanted Class Counsel to directly address some of the objections that objectors said Class Counsel had not adequately responded to.
The Judge took the motions under submission and then issued the following order:
ORDER FOLLOWING FINAL APPROVAL HEARING: By no later than May 21, 2026, Anthropic may file a supplemental brief of no more than 2 pages addressing why late opt outs should not be honored. By that date, Plaintiffs shall file a revised proposed order substantively addressing objections, with a redline to proposed order filed April 30, 2026, [646-1].
The Court does not require anything more from the objectors nor will it consider any further submissions from them. Signed by Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin on May 14, 2026