Publishers want a cut of author payouts on books they gave back.
Authors began getting emails this month about their share of Anthropic's $1.5 billion copyright settlement. One novelist says HarperCollins claimed a book whose rights returned to the author seventeen years ago. A writers' watchdog blames poor records or a glitch in the claims system, not greed.
Why it mattersThis is the first big test of who actually gets paid when an AI company settles. If middlemen absorb the money, future settlements will not protect the people whose work was taken.
Read in the app — free, in 9 languages
Related stories
A blacklisted Chinese firm renamed its US arm and kept buying chips.2026-09-07American campaigns are buying ChatGPT even though it bans their ads.
2026-09-06The Seattle Times sued two firms that fund its own fellowships.
2026-09-06California's top prosecutor is investigating OpenAI's runaway agents.
2026-09-05The US and China plan AI safety talks before the Trump-Xi summit.
2026-09-05