Writer Beware documented widespread errors in the claims process for Anthropic’s $1.5 billion AI copyright settlement, in which publishers and literary agents are seeking shares of author payouts they are not contractually entitled to. Cases include publishers claiming 50-100% of payments for rights-reverted books (where they should receive nothing) and 100% claims on in-print titles (where the settlement specifies a 50-50 author-publisher split). The settlement administrator extended the dispute-filing deadline from 30 to 60 days to give authors time to challenge incorrect claims with documentation. Writer Beware’s Victoria Strauss called the volume of complaints ‘widespread and systemic,’ while some publishers have acknowledged clerical errors and begun issuing corrections.
