Author wins $6,200 from Anthropic for stealing his books — but years of fighting have made him 'much poorer'

Author Charles Graeber will receive $6,200 from Anthropic as part of a $1.5 billion class-action settlement over unauthorized use of his books to train the Claude chatbot, but he says the years-long fight left him 'much poorer.' The settlement, agreed in July, resolved a lawsuit filed by Graeber, Andrea Bartz, and Kirk Wallace Johnson, though the court ruled Anthropic did not violate copyright by training on the books, only by using unauthorized copies.

Author wins $6,200 from Anthropic for stealing his books — but years of fighting have made him 'much poorer' Charles Graeber knows that what he and a group of other authors accomplished was epic. Together, they took on AI giant Anthropic in a class-action lawsuit that resulted in one of the largest copyright infringement settlements of all time. But he's still not ready to claim victory. Must Read - Jeff Bezos backs a platform that lets anyone invest in rental homes for as little as $100 — 6 ways to build wealth like a landlord without actually being one https://moneywise.com/investing/real-estate/ways-to-invest-in-real-estate?placement syn=placement-one&utm source=syn oath mon&utm medium=BL&utm campaign=207645&utm content=syn e2d31f71-d720-4b02-b47c-1da45ea17e0b - Dave Ramsey warns nearly 50% of Americans are making 1 big Social Security mistake — here's what it is and 3 simple steps to fix it ASAP https://moneywise.com/managing-money/retirement-planning/dave-ramsey-warns-nearly-50-of-americans-are-making-1?placement syn=placement-one&utm source=syn oath mon&utm medium=BL&utm campaign=207645&utm content=syn 9e71d7b2-40da-4530-ba63-2f692c24f0ef - The tax breaks in Trump's 'big beautiful bill' expire after 2028 — and experts say most people won't act in time. What to do before the window closes https://moneywise.com/taxes/taxes-are-going-to-change-for-retirees-under-trumps-big-beautiful-bill-heres-why-you-cant-afford-to-waste-time?placement syn=placement-one&utm source=syn oath mon&utm medium=BL&utm campaign=207645&utm content=syn 4c757e24-1901-4a90-bb6c-0d564fae46f3 The author of the bestselling true crime book The Good Nurse — along with fellow writers Andrea Bartz and Kirk Wallace Johnson https://www.linkedin.com/posts/charles-graeber-26668412 anthropic-authors-share-7377096831442526208-yRz8/ — were among those whose lawsuit led Claude maker Anthropic to agree to a $1.5 billion settlement in July, roughly two years after the authors sued the company. But the agreement was only a partial victory. On a personal level, Graeber said it came at a steep cost. Lawyers will get a portion of the settlement while thousands of authors will split what's left. Graeber said he'll receive $3,100 for each of the two books Anthropic used without authorization to train the large language model behind the Claude chatbot. In the end, though, that's not as much as it sounds. "A lot of travel, a lot of discussion about what to do and how to proceed and a lot of jobs passed up," Graeber told NPR https://www.npr.org/2026/07/27/nx-s1-5904606/anthropic-vs-bartz-ai-copyright-lawsuit-pros-cons . "I'm much poorer for this settlement, ironically." A win or a loss? While the AI company agreed to pay a near-record amount, the case was hardly a win for authors. The court ruled that Anthropic did not violate copyright law simply by training its AI models on copyrighted books. Instead, the company was held liable for using unauthorized copies of those works. AI companies, including Anthropic, have argued that the fair use doctrine allows them to use copyrighted material without permission in certain circumstances. Authors have countered that fair use doesn't apply because AI systems are trained on their work to generate new writing that could compete with the originals. A machine that can produce a book in minutes or hours has an inherent advantage over human authors, they argue. Graeber, for example, spent a decade researching and writing The Good Nurse , which Netflix has since adapted into a film. "I felt very small," he told https://people.com/after-their-books-were-pirated-to-train-ai-three-authors-went-to-court-and-won-exclusive-11844826 People https://people.com/after-their-books-were-pirated-to-train-ai-three-authors-went-to-court-and-won-exclusive-11844826 in 2025. "I'm one person and this is a huge tech company that didn't feel the need to even notify me that they wanted or were using several books."