Harry Potter publisher to receive millions in Anthropic copyright settlement

Bloomsbury, which is home to the bestselling novelists Sarah J Maas and Susanna Clarke as well as JK Rowling, said it had 14,087 titles listed within the settlement, with a proposed compensation of about $3,000 a title.

The London-based company expects to receive the cash from the settlement in instalments, potentially starting in the second half of this fiscal year, with the proceeds to be split with authors.

After a deduction of about 10% for attorney fees and other expenses, Bloomsbury and the group of affected authors can expect to receive about $19m (£14m).

View image in fullscreenThe lawsuit against Anthropic was filed by the novelist Andrea Bartz and two other authors in 2024. Photograph: Richard Drew/APThe US district judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín said on Monday that the settlement provided “meaningful relief” to affected authors and publishers. The case began when the novelist Andrea Bartz and two other authors filed the lawsuit in 2024. About 91% of the 482,000 works covered in the suit have been claimed.

Anthropic’s deputy general counsel, Aparna Sridhar, said in a written statement after the ruling: “We are pleased that more than 91% of authors and publishers covered by the settlement have claimed their share of the payment, and we’re looking forward to bringing this matter to a close.”

Bloomsbury announced an AI licensing deal last year which allows it to sell academic works to train up generative AI programmes.

The firm said recently that more subject areas were now being considered for AI training. Authors have been given the opportunity to “opt in” to the scheme and will be paid royalties if they decide to let their work be used.