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Category: Bartz v. Anthropic

Will Anthropic’s announced settlement of book authors’ class action copyright suit have domino effect on other lawsuits? Reasons yes and no.

After two and a half years since the first lawsuit against AI companies was filed in January 2023, we had in 1 week the first 2 announced settlements (pending court approval). First, the parties in the copyright suit filed by voice actors Vacker against ElevenLabs announced a settlement after mediation (the role of ADR we…
Read more: Will Anthropic’s announced settlement of book authors’ class action copyright suit have domino effect on other lawsuits? Reasons yes and no.
Latest Map of copyright suits v. AI companies. 2 cases tentatively settle. (Aug. 27, 2025).

As the parties in 2 cases (Bartz v. Anthropic and Vacker v. Eleven Labs) announced reaching settlements in principle after respective mediations, the latest updated map of all copyright lawsuits in the US against AI companies looks like this (below). The cases in the red rectangles are the 2 cases in which tentative settlements have…
Read more: Latest Map of copyright suits v. AI companies. 2 cases tentatively settle. (Aug. 27, 2025).
Anthropic, Bartz book authors reach a class settlement. Wow. The dominoes are falling.

BREAKING NEWS: After mediation, Anthropic reaches a settlement with Bartz book authors, including class-wide. It will still need to be approved by Judge Alsup, but that seems very likely. This is now the second settlement announced in the past week in the AI copyright litigation. Which domino will drop next? UPDATE: Judge Alsup immediately signed…
Read more: Anthropic, Bartz book authors reach a class settlement. Wow. The dominoes are falling.
Anthropic reply to Bartz motion to supplement reveals Benjamin Mann thought it was fair use to download LibGen based prior view when he did so at OpenAI

As we expected, Anthropic co-founder Benjamin Mann testified during his deposition that he formed a view that downloading from the LibGen shadow library based on a view that it was fair use he formed when he did so at OpenAI. This should not be surprising. I have traced the history of AI training and use…
Read more: Anthropic reply to Bartz motion to supplement reveals Benjamin Mann thought it was fair use to download LibGen based prior view when he did so at OpenAI
Desperate to avoid “doomsday” statutory damages award, Anthropic battling to stave off waiving its attorney-client privilege regarding pirated books. Hearing set for Aug. 28, 8 am.

Things appear to going from bad to worse for Anthropic in the lawsuit filed by book authors Bartz. Judge Alsup just allowed Bartz to file more evidence to support its contention that Anthropic has impliedly waived its attorney-client privilege regarding legal advice given related to Anthropic’s use of pirated books from shadow libraries. Ominously, Judge…
Read more: Desperate to avoid “doomsday” statutory damages award, Anthropic battling to stave off waiving its attorney-client privilege regarding pirated books. Hearing set for Aug. 28, 8 am.
Anthropic files emergency motion asking 9th Circuit to stay Bartz lawsuit in district court, pending review of Rule 23(f) appeal motion

After Judge Alsup denied its motion to stay the proceedings in the district court in the Bartz lawsuit, Anthropic has filed an emergency motion seeking a stay from the 9th Circuit. Anthropic requests a ruling on this motion by September 2., 2025, which is day after the plaintiffs must submit a list of all the…
Read more: Anthropic files emergency motion asking 9th Circuit to stay Bartz lawsuit in district court, pending review of Rule 23(f) appeal motion
Anthropic desperate to stave off waiver of attorney-client privilege

Anthropic filed its reply to support its position that it has not waived its attorney-client privilege for any communications containing advice regarding the legality of downloading copies from shadow libraries. What seems apparent is that Anthropic switched from downloading from shadow libraries to scanning copies of books it purchased (a la Google Books project) based…
Read more: Anthropic desperate to stave off waiver of attorney-client privilege
Anthropic supported by amici briefs in 9th Circuit in request for interlocutory appeal of Judge Alsup’s class certification

Anthropic’s bid to convince the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to grant, under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(f), an interlocutory appeal of Judge Alsup’s certification of a class action of potentially millions of books just received support from several groups. You can download the amici briefs below: AUTHORS ALLIANCE, ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION, ASSOCIATION OF RESEARCH…
Read more: Anthropic supported by amici briefs in 9th Circuit in request for interlocutory appeal of Judge Alsup’s class certification
Anthropic files reply in support of motion for interlocutory appeal of Judge Alsup’s fair use decision and treatment of library building as a separate use

Anthropic reply
Read more: Anthropic files reply in support of motion for interlocutory appeal of Judge Alsup’s fair use decision and treatment of library building as a separate use
Anthropic filed Rule 23(f) petition to appeal Judge Alsup’s class certification in 9th Circuit

Read more: Anthropic filed Rule 23(f) petition to appeal Judge Alsup’s class certification in 9th Circuit