A federal judge approves Anthropic’s $1.5 billion settlement with authors and publishers in a class action copyright case, according to multiple reports. The lawsuit alleges that Anthropic’s AI system used copyrighted books without permission. Outlets report that the settlement is approved by the court and covers an estimated hundreds of thousands of titles, with one account describing a payout that works out to about $3,000 per work across roughly 500,000 titles. Several sources say the settlement includes attorney fees exceeding $100 million, in addition to the overall $1.5 billion figure. Reports also describe participation in the settlement: Ars Technica and other coverage state that only a limited number of covered authors opted out—citing figures such as about 350 authors opting out—and that more than 91% of covered authors and publishers claimed their settlement share. One outlet also notes that Anthropic blocks authors from opting out at the last minute. Overall, the accounts agree the judge grants final approval of the large settlement after the class action reaches a resolution.