In 2022, authors filed a lawsuit against Anthropic (currently valued at $183 billion), the owner of an AI program (and more). The company purchased and scanned countless books, and also downloaded illegal copies of books from the pirate site LibGen. That company lets people upload book files they have either been given or purchased. They then let people download illegal copies (copyright infringement).

The judge ruled that scanning printed books was permitted under Fair Use copyright law. However, downloading pirated files for use in AI technology was NOT legal.

Keep reading to see if your books were included.

How can you join the lawsuit, and get compensated?

1. You must have registered a copyright for your book within 5 years of publication.

2. You must have registered that copyright before August 10, 2022 (before it was downloaded by Anthropic).

If you didn’t register your copyright under those conditions, you can stop reading now (or, at least share this post with your author friends). You won’t be eligible to be part of the class. However, further down in this post, you’ll see a link to other lawsuits against AI companies.

You can find your registered copyrights HERE. Sadly, some authors are learning that their publishers never filed their copyright registrations, even after authors paid them to do so.

They believe an estimated half million books were downloaded, and illegally used. The payout sum is estimated to be around $3,000 per work.

The article below by the wonderful Victoria Strauss at Writer Beware has a TON of information on this  lawsuit.

Bartz v. Anthropic Settlement: An Update for Authors

You can search to see if your books are in the defendant’s database RIGHT HERE. Be prepared to get frustrated. I searched for “Angela Hoy” and all KINDS of stuff popped up, like authors named “Angela Hey.” It might be easier if you search under your publisher’s name, and then look for your books on the list that pops up.

You can file a claim HERE.

There have been 51 lawsuits filed against AI companies!

Did you know that Grammarly and some other AI programs that authors use have a clause requiring authors to “opt-out” if they don’t want their works used to train the companies’ AI systems? Did you also know that your manuscript can later “fail” in the AI detection programs because YOU used an AI program during the writing process?

We advise all authors to avoid using AI to write or edit their books! Hire a REAL (and vetted!) editor instead!

RELATED

• EPISODE 6: How AI (Artificial Intelligence) is Getting Writers, Students, and Even LAWYERS into Trouble – Angela, Brian, and guest Professor Clayton Jones explore AI’s unsettling impact on writing, education, and law—and what it means for professionals in these fields …
• Have YOUR Books Been Used to Train AI? – by James M. Walsh, Esq.
• AI Detectors Are Now Flagging Writing That Was NOT Created Using AI!
• I Was Falsely Accused of Using AI By Michael W. Michelsen, Jr.
• Beware the (False!) AI Sniff Test By Diona L. Reeves

HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

ASK ANGELA!