Payments to authors in Anthropic’s largest copyright settlement have begun, but with them come unexpected disputes. Some writers report that publishers and literary agents are demanding the money, which should go to the authors themselves.
As part of the agreement, nearly 500,000 books used by Anthropic after pirated downloads will earn copyright owners $3,000 per copy. If the book is still published by a traditional publisher, the amount is split equally between the author and publisher. If copyright reverts to the author or is self-published, the author must receive the full $3,000.
However, the author started receiving notifications about others demanding payment. According to the Writers Beware blog, in some cases publishers will ask for funding for books whose copyrights were returned to authors years ago, while in other cases they will ask for 100% of the amount instead of the requested 50%. Writers also report claims from literary agents, even though the agent is not the copyright owner of the work.
Representatives of the Authors Guild believe that what happened is more likely due to confusion and improper accounting of rights, rather than a deliberate attempt by publishers to take other people’s money. However, the number of identical errors led some observers to suspect a systemic problem. The author can challenge the distribution of the payment, and in order to receive full payment, the rights to the book must be returned by August 10, 2022.
