AI Legal Cases

Bartz v. Anthropic PBC

U.S. District Court, N.D. California · Docket 3:24-cv-05417

Settled

Court
U.S. District Court, N.D. California
Docket
3:24-cv-05417
Filed
August 19, 2024
Category
Copyright
Judge
Hon. William Alsup
Plaintiffs
Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, Kirk Wallace Johnson, on behalf of a class of authors
Defendants
Anthropic PBC
Current status
Settled for $1.5 billion; final fairness hearing held May 14, 2026; final approval under advisement
Docket and filings
View on CourtListener

Latest development · July 21, 2026

REPORT on the determination of an action regarding Copyright(cc: form emailed to register). (hdj, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 7/21/2026) (Entered: 07/21/2026)

Executive summary

Authors alleged Anthropic trained Claude on pirated copies of their books. Judge Alsup ruled training on lawfully acquired books was fair use but retaining pirated library copies was not, driving the largest publicly reported copyright settlement in U.S. history: $1.5 billion covering roughly 480,000 works, about $3,000 per book.

Why it matters

Sets the first concrete per-work price benchmark for AI training data and drew the piracy/licensing bright line every AI developer now navigates.

Models, datasets, and materials at issue

Target models

  • Claude

Disputed datasets

  • Books3
  • LibGen
  • PiLiMi (alleged pirated libraries)

Materials at issue

Published books

Docket timeline

  • July 21, 2026

    REPORT on the determination of an action regarding Copyright(cc: form emailed to register). (hdj, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 7/21/2026) (Entered: 07/21/2026) Docket #681 →

  • July 20, 2026

    ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT; GRANTING IN PART MOTION FOR ATTORNEY'S FEES, REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES, AND PLAINTIFF SERVICE AWARDS; JUDGMENT. Signed by Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin on July 20, 2026. (amolc1, COURTSTAFF) (Filed on 7/20/2026)Any non-CM/ECF Participants hav Docket #680 →

  • July 13, 2026

    Brief re 676 Objection,, -DEFENDANT ANTHROPIC PBCS OPPOSITION TO APPLICATION OF CLASS MEMBER DONALD S. PASSMAN FOR LEAVE TO SUBMIT LATE REQUEST FOR EXCLUSION FROM CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT filed byAnthropic PBC. (Related document(s) 676 ) (Winthrop, Douglas) (Filed on 7/13/2026) (Entered: 07/13/2026) Docket #679 →

  • July 10, 2026

    Brief re 676 Objection,, re: Passman Late Opt-Out Request and Late Objections filed byAndrea Bartz, Andrea Bartz, Inc., Charles Graeber, Kirk Wallace Johnson, MJ + KJ, Inc.. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Jennifer M. Keough)(Related document(s) 676 ) (Nelson, Justin) (Filed on 7/10/2026) (Entered: Docket #678 →

  • July 1, 2026

    NOTICE of Appearance filed by Kenneth David Freundlich on behalf of Donald S. Passman (Freundlich, Kenneth) (Filed on 7/1/2026) (Entered: 07/01/2026) Docket #677 →

  • June 30, 2026

    OBJECTIONS to re 632 Order,,, Set Deadlines/Hearings,, 672 Response ( Non Motion ), 671 Supplemental Brief APPLICATION OF CLASS MEMBER DONALD S. PASSMAN FOR LEAVE TO SUBMIT LATE REQUEST FOR EXCLUSION FROM CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT; AND IN THE ALTERNATIVE, CONDITIONAL OBJECTION TO FINAL APPROVAL by Don Docket #676 →

  • June 25, 2026

    NOTICE of Withdrawal filed by Mark Alan Lemley, no longer appearing on behalf of Anthropic PBC in this case (Lemley, Mark) (Filed on 6/25/2026) (Entered: 06/25/2026) Docket #675 →

  • June 4, 2026

    ORDER TO WITHDRAW AS ATTORNEY GRANTING 669 Motion to Withdraw as Attorney. Signed by Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin on 6/4/2026. (jlg, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 6/4/2026)Any non-CM/ECF Participants have been served by First Class Mail to the addresses of record listed on the Notice of Electronic Filing Docket #674 →

  • May 29, 2026

    NOTICE of Withdrawal filed by Molly Alana Karlin, no longer appearing on behalf of Andrea Bartz, Andrea Bartz, Inc., Charles Graeber, Kirk Wallace Johnson in this case (Karlin, Molly) (Filed on 5/29/2026) (Entered: 05/29/2026) Docket #673 →

  • May 21, 2026

    RESPONSE re 664 Order,,, Class Counsel's Response to Court's Order Regarding Second Supplemental Proposed Order by Andrea Bartz, Andrea Bartz, Inc., Charles Graeber, Kirk Wallace Johnson, MJ + KJ, Inc.. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1 - Clean Second Supplemental Proposed Order, # 2 Exhibit 2- Redline Se Docket #672 →

  • May 21, 2026

    Supplemental Brief -DEFENDANT ANTHROPIC PBCS SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEF REGARDING LATE OPT OUTS filed byAnthropic PBC. (Farris, Joseph) (Filed on 5/21/2026) (Entered: 05/21/2026) Docket #671 →

  • May 20, 2026

    RELATED CASE ORDER. Signed by Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin on 5/20/2026. (jlg, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 5/20/2026)Any non-CM/ECF Participants have been served by First Class Mail to the addresses of record listed on the Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) (Entered: 05/20/2026) Docket #670 →

  • May 19, 2026

    MOTION to Withdraw as Attorney filed by Fairmark Partners LLP. Responses due by 6/2/2026. Replies due by 6/9/2026. (Attachments: # 1 Proposed Order)(Onayemi, Yinka) (Filed on 5/19/2026) (Entered: 05/19/2026) Docket #669 →

  • May 15, 2026

    Transcript of Proceedings held on 5-14-26, before Judge Martinez-Olguin. Court Reporter/Transcriber Andrea Bluedorn, telephone number Phone: 715-965-2298. Email: andrea_bluedorn@cand.uscourts.gov. Per General Order No. 59 and Judicial Conference policy, this transcript may be viewed only at the Cler Docket #668 →

  • May 15, 2026

    *order not processed. Filer notified by CRD* TRANSCRIPT ORDER for proceedings held on 05/14/2026 before Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin by Anthropic PBC, for Recorded Proceeding - San Francisco. (Farris, Joseph) (Filed on 5/15/2026) Modified on 5/15/2026 (jaf, COURT STAFF). (Entered: 05/15/2026) Docket #667 →

  • May 14, 2026

    *order not processed, filer notified by CRD* TRANSCRIPT ORDER for proceedings held on 5/14/2026 before Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin by Andrea Bartz, Andrea Bartz, Inc., Charles Graeber, Kirk Wallace Johnson, MJ + KJ, Inc., for Recorded Proceeding - San Francisco. (Haselkorn, Amelia) (Filed on 5/14/ Docket #665 →

Docket entries sync nightly from CourtListener and the RECAP Archive. Full filings are one click away on the linked docket.

Facts on this page were last verified against the docket on July 30, 2026. See how we track these cases, or return to all tracked cases.

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