Bartz v. Anthropic – Page 3 – Chat GPT Is Eating the World

As Judge Alsup retires, Bartz v. Anthropic reassigned to Judge Martínez-Olguín

As Judge William Alsup is retiring at the end of 2025, the Bartz v. Anthropic class action lawsuit was just reassigned to Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, who was presiding over the In re OpenAI ChatGPT Litigation filed by book authors (Paul Tremblay, Sarah Silverman, and Michael Chabon) before its transfer to the MDL Litigation before Judge…
Read more: As Judge Alsup retires, Bartz v. Anthropic reassigned to Judge Martínez-Olguín
In one of final orders, Judge Alsup rebukes Bartz Class Counsel for seeking attorneys’ fees for 3 law firms beyond the 2 firms appointed Class Counsel

In one of his final orders before his retirement from the bench in a few days, Judge William Alsup issued a strong rebuke of the Bartz Class Counsel’s motion for attorneys’ fees beyond the 2 firms appointed class counsel, Susman Godfrey LLP and Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP. The motion for attorneys’ fees will…
Read more: In one of final orders, Judge Alsup rebukes Bartz Class Counsel for seeking attorneys’ fees for 3 law firms beyond the 2 firms appointed Class Counsel
Textbook and Academic Authors Association files motion to intervene in Bartz v. Anthropic over controversy re: Sage Publishing email

The Textbook and Academic Authors Association (TAAA) filed a motion to intervene in the Bartz v. Antropic class action and the court’s order of a curative communication related to an email to class authors by Sage Publishing that TAAA contends was inaccurate. Excerpt: DOWNLOAD TAAA’S MOTION TO INTERVENE
Read more: Textbook and Academic Authors Association files motion to intervene in Bartz v. Anthropic over controversy re: Sage Publishing email
Anthropic objects to attorneys’ fees for Non-Class Counsel. Suggests lodestar method may be better than % for Class Counsel.

Interesting filing by Anthropic contesting the Plaintiffs’ motion for attorneys’ fees. The main dispute is that Anthropic argues that the “extraordinary” amount sought for Non-Class Counsel who helped in the litigation is not warranted. Without taking a position on the precise fee award, Anthropic also suggests that the award sought by Class Counsel would be…
Read more: Anthropic objects to attorneys’ fees for Non-Class Counsel. Suggests lodestar method may be better than % for Class Counsel.
How Kadrey seeks to become Bartz II

The Plaintiffs in Kadrey v. Meta are seeking to file a Fourth Amended Complaint. Meta opposes it, not surprisingly. Kadrey is seeking to become Bartz II, which resulted in the largest copyright settlement in U.S. history at $1.5 billion. In Bartz, although AI training was a highly transformative fair use, building a permanent library of…
Read more: How Kadrey seeks to become Bartz II
Judge Alsup issues order to Dundurn Press and Attorney Kerry Culpepper: “they are not permitted to remain in the class yet seek a sweeter deal than other class members.”

Judge Alsup issued an order re Letter from Attorney Culpepper, who represents Dundurn Press from Canada. For a recap of Dundurn’s counsel’s letter to Anthropic, visit: Judge Alsup issued the following order: “The undersigned judge has read the letter written by Attorney Kerry Culpepper to Anthropic dated December 9, 2025. The clients of Attorney Culpepper…
Read more: Judge Alsup issues order to Dundurn Press and Attorney Kerry Culpepper: “they are not permitted to remain in the class yet seek a sweeter deal than other class members.”
Another Bartz v. Anthropic controversy: Dundurn Press Ltd. sends letter to Anthropic seeking separate settlement that includes “an appropriate monetary component of an amicable resolution”

The Bartz v. Anthropic case will not go quietly into the night. Now we have Dundurn Press Limited, an independent trade publisher in Canada, sending a cease-and-demand letter through its counsel Kerry S. Culpepper to Anthropic. In the letter, Dundurn says it won’t be a part of the class settlement, which it argues is “wholly…
Read more: Another Bartz v. Anthropic controversy: Dundurn Press Ltd. sends letter to Anthropic seeking separate settlement that includes “an appropriate monetary component of an amicable resolution”
Bartz Class Counsel file motion for attorneys fees asking for 20% of nonreversionary class funds, or $300M plus $2M in costs

Bartz Class Counsel filed their motion for attorneys’ fees. The hearing is not until April 23, 2026 and will be before a different judge if Judge Alsup retires at the end of this year as he suggested. Class Counsel are seeking “20% of the non-reversionary Settlement Fund, consisting of $1.5 billion plus interest paid by…
Read more: Bartz Class Counsel file motion for attorneys fees asking for 20% of nonreversionary class funds, or $300M plus $2M in costs
Anthropic reportedly mulling IPO in 2026

After preliminarily settling the Bartz book author copyright suit, Anthropic is now reportedly considering an IPO as early as 2026.
Read more: Anthropic reportedly mulling IPO in 2026
At 4-hour hearing Judge Alsup rebukes ClaimsHero for “bait-and-switch” pitch to Bartz class members to opt out without any other lawsuit v. Anthropic, leaving opt-out class members potentially with $0 recovery. Judge warns ClaimsHero again of criminal referral to US Attorney if it seeks “sweeter deal” from Anthropic.

Judge Alsup held a 4-hour marathon evidentiary hearing in San Francisco. On trial (without being formally charged or sued) was ClaimsHero. Claims Hero is an Arizona law firm that attempted to entice book authors who are class members in the Bartz v. Anthropic settlement. ClaimsHero tried to convince class members to opt out of the…
Read more: At 4-hour hearing Judge Alsup rebukes ClaimsHero for “bait-and-switch” pitch to Bartz class members to opt out without any other lawsuit v. Anthropic, leaving opt-out class members potentially with $0 recovery. Judge warns ClaimsHero again of criminal referral to US Attorney if it seeks “sweeter deal” from Anthropic.

Category: Bartz v. Anthropic