Authors Sue Anthropic Over Alleged Copyright Violations

Key Takeaways

A group of authors is suing Anthropic, claiming copyright infringement.

The lawsuit alleges Anthropic used pirated books to train its AI chatbot, Claude.

Recently, Anthropic was also accused by content publishers of aggressive web crawling.

A group of authors has taken legal action against AI startup Anthropic, accusing the company of using stolen copies of copyrighted books to train its AI chatbot, Claude. The lawsuit, filed in a San Francisco federal court on Monday, is the first of its kind from book authors against Anthropic, though the company is already facing similar lawsuits from music publishers.

The lawsuit was initiated by three authors—Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson—who are seeking to represent other writers in a similar situation. They claim Anthropic accessed pirated collections of written works to develop its AI, arguing that the company’s actions contradict its public commitment to being a responsible and safety-focused AI developer.

The authors specifically mention a dataset called "The Pile," which they believe contains a large number of pirated books used by Anthropic to train Claude. They argue that Anthropic’s actions have exploited the creative efforts of writers, profiting from their work without permission.

Anthropic, founded by former leaders of OpenAI, has promoted itself as a more ethical player in the AI industry, advocating for what it calls "Constitutional AI"—a set of programming guidelines intended to ensure responsible AI development. However, this lawsuit challenges that narrative, accusing the company of extensive copyright violations.

This case is part of a growing legal movement against AI companies over copyright concerns. OpenAI, Microsoft, and other tech giants are also facing lawsuits from notable authors like John Grisham and George R.R. Martin, as well as from media organizations like The New York Times. These lawsuits focus on the allegation that these companies have used copyrighted content without obtaining the necessary permissions or offering compensation to the creators.

The AI Fair Use Debate 

Anthropic and other AI companies have argued that their use of copyrighted materials for AI training is protected under the "fair use" doctrine in U.S. law. This doctrine allows limited use of copyrighted content for purposes like research or creating something new. However, the authors in this lawsuit challenge this interpretation, asserting that AI systems do not learn in the same way humans do. They argue that while humans buy or borrow books legally, AI companies like Anthropic are profiting from works without compensating the creators.

Additionally, the lawsuit raises broader concerns about the methods AI companies use to acquire and process data. In a related issue, iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens recently accused Anthropic’s AI bot of overly aggressive web crawling, which he claimed was straining website resources and violating terms of service agreements.