Bartz v. Anthropic Copyright Case
Guidance to Anthropic Settlement Process for Educational Authors

Please Note: This is not legal advice and should not be interpreted as such. TAA does not represent any individual authors or publishers in this matter. TAA’s sole purpose in distributing this and any other guidance is to try to help its members better understand and navigate the settlement administration process. Learn how you can support our efforts.

TAA has new guidance for educational authors whose works are involved in the Bartz v. Anthropic Settlement but who are not eligible for the 50/50 default split, or for non-educational authors who chose to opt out of the 50/50 default split. Attorney Brenda Ulrich, with Archstone Law Group, has been working with TAA on providing this guidance. 

Authors and publishers who have each filed claims for a given work in which the claimed percentages do not match up with each other are required to “meet and confer” with the other claimants for that work to see if they can agree on how to split the payment for that work. (See FAQ 26 for official information from JND about this process). This process will start soon after the claim filing deadline on March 30, 2026. During that process, the claimants and settlement administrator will be looking at the publishing contracts governing the disputed work for guidance on how the claims amount should be split. TAA’s guidance includes a list of contract considerations with some tips and suggestions for looking at your contract to try to come up with the strongest arguments for what you should receive.

Please be watching for a communication from the settlement administrator informing you that you must meet and confer with other claimants for a work. If you do NOT participate in the “meet and confer,” you are putting yourself at a disadvantage for what you could recover on your claim. If only one claimant for a work participates, they are likely to get what they claimed, regardless of whether that is truly the best or fairest outcome.

Our understanding is that the claims settlement process will include the following steps:

1. The Settlement Administrator will notify all claimants who have filed claims for a particular work. If there is disagreement on the split and inform them of their obligation to “meet and confer” with each other. 


2. Once notified, the claimants will have 30 (thirty) days to “meet and confer” with each other to try to work out a resolution of the claims split. The “meet and confer”  process is overseen by the Settlement Administrator. 


3. If the claimants cannot decide between themselves how to split the amount, then the Settlement Administrator will work with them to try to resolve the issue. The Settlement Administrator may request that the parties submit a copy of the relevant publishing contract for the work. The claimants can also submit arguments for which part of the contract they think supports their claimed amount. The Settlement Administrator’s role is to work with the parties to try to resolve the dispute based on the terms of the publishing contract. 


4. If the claimants cannot agree on a split either during the “meet and confer” or with the Settlement Administrator’s assistance, then one or both of the claimants can elect to send the dispute to a “Special Master” who has been appointed by the Court to mediate and resolve these matters. The decision of the Special Master is final and cannot be appealed. 

Authors should be clear-eyed going into these discussions about a few points:

1. This is a zero-sum game:  if one claimant gets more, the other gets less. The estimate right now is that each work will receive approximately $3,000 from the settlement award. So the more one claimant gets, the less the other claimant gets.


2. Many large educational publishers engaged their own lawyers months ago to represent their interests in this lawsuit. Originally, the case was only brought by authors on behalf of authors; late in the lawsuit publishers joined the suit with their own lawyers. This means that these publishers have had time and legal expertise to help develop their strongest legal arguments for what they should receive from the settlement award.


3. While JND and Class Counsel might provide you, the author, with some general ideas on parts of your contract that may be relevant, they do NOT represent you in this “meet and confer” process. Class Counsel represents the whole class, i.e., all claimants, which includes authors AND publishers. If you want to have your own lawyer represent you, you will need to hire someone on your own.  


4. In most cases, a 50/50 split is likely the best outcome an author is going to get (barring certain factors like out of print/rights reverted works). Many publishers are likely to argue that the author should get less than 50%. 



TAA is doing what it can – with the resources available to it as a small nonprofit organization – to help authors understand the process and try to develop their strongest position for recovering a fair portion of the settlement amount. We have put together several educational materials for authors – including webinars and written materials. View TAA's Guidance. For this settlement process, TAA has put together "Contract Considerations for Authors in Anthropic Settlement Process" with some tips and suggestions for looking at your contract to try to come up with the strongest arguments for what you should receive. However, TAA does not represent individual authors and cannot provide individualized contract reviews and advice for your particular situation. We encourage you to ask questions throughout the process. And if you are feeling frustrated or overwhelmed in the “meet and confer” stage of things, know that you always have the right to appeal to the Special Master as a neutral third party to resolve it. 

View more TAA Guidance for Textbook & Academic Authors whose works are included in the Anthropic Settlement, including webinars and written materials, here.

Support TAA’s Advocacy for Textbook and Academic Authors in the Bartz v. Anthropic Settlement. While critical in supporting textbook and academic authors whose works are included in the Settlement, TAA’s advocacy efforts have been costly— and we could use your help to defray those costs. Learn more