AI startup Anthropic has agreed to pay $US1.5 billion to settle claims by authors, including many Australians, that it downloaded pirated books to train its machine brain.
This follows a judgement in the US District court which found that content owned by others is “fair use” under US law.
However, the first major case on copyright and generative artificial intelligence also found that not paying for books to feed the AI is theft.
Some reports estimate authors could get about $US3,000 for each book covered by the settlement which Anthropic has asked US District Judge William Alsup to approve.
The owners of content, including major media players such as News Corp (which has already done deals with AI companies), want to be compensated for helping AI companies become multi-billionaires.
Now Anthropic, in the largest US copyright settlement in history, had filed a proposal with the court that would settle the claims for downloading millions of books from pirate sources Library Genesis (LibGen) and PiLiMi.
The Authors Guild, which brought the court action, said the amount of the award sends a signal to all AI companies that downloading illegal copies of books to train AI comes with a heavy cost.
“This historic settlement is a vital step in acknowledging that AI companies cannot simply steal authors’ creative work to build their AI just because they need books to develop quality LLMs,” said Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger.
“It is truly shocking that Anthropic and the other major LLM owners engaged in criminal-level piracy schemes to torrent millions of books knowingly from infamous foreign ebook piracy sites that the publishing industry has actively been trying to take down for years.
“Imagine the outrage if Anthropic and others had illegally siphoned off electricity to build their AI, claiming it was too expensive to pay for it?
“These vastly rich companies, worth billions, stole from those earning a median income of barely $20,000 a year.
“This settlement sends a clear message that AI companies must pay for the books they use just as they pay for the other essential components of their LLMs.
“This settlement lays down an anchor that it is not okay. We expect that the settlement will lead to more licensing that gives authors both compensation and control over the use of their work by AI companies, as should be the case in a functioning free market society.”
Anthropic last week closed a $13 billion funding round valuing the company at $US183 billion.
(DISCLOSURE: Chris Pash is a former director and chair of the Australian Society of Authors and a former board director of the Copyright Agency.)
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