San Francisco – A federal judge on Thursday approved a $1.5 billion settlement between humanity, an artificial intelligence company, and the author who claims that nearly half a million books have been illegally pirated to train chatbots.
US District Judge William Alsup announced his approval Thursday in San Francisco federal court. After the two countries work to address settlement concerns, they pay the author and publisher about $3,000 for each book covered by the contract. It will not apply to future works.
Monday's application attempted to convince the judge that the parties had set up a system designed to obtain robust notice to all authors and publishers covered by the contract, and ensure that they would cut the pot if they wanted to register for a settlement or opt out to protect their legal rights.
They also sought to ensure that the group of authors and publishers who put the deal together were not making “backroom” deals that hurt lesser-known authors.
The main concern of Allsup is focused on how the claims process is handled to ensure that the author “doesn't get the shaft” and that everyone knows about it. He had set a September 22 deadline for him to submit a request form for him to review the settlement again prior to Thursday's hearing.
The judges worked “behind the scenes” to pressure two large groups related to the case – the Authors Guild and the American Publishers Association – to accept the settlement without a complete understanding.
The author's lawyer said in his filing Monday that the settlement would consider a high claim rate, respect the existing contract and provide court guidance, “consistent with legitimate proceedings.”
Alsup gave a complicated ruling in June that found that while it is not illegal to train AI chatbots with copyrighted books, humanity mistakenly acquired millions of books through pirate websites to improve Claude Chatbot.
Andrea Burtz, the bestselling thriller novelist who sued humanity with two other authors last year, said in a court declaration before the hearing that she strongly supports the settlement and works to explain its importance to fellow writers.
“Together, the authors and publishers are sending messages to AI companies. You are not beyond the law. Our intellectual property is not yours,” she writes.
Alsp also told court Thursday that he plans to step down from the bench by the end of the year.
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AP Technology Writer Matt O'Brien contributed to this story in Providence, Rhode Island.
