How to File the Anthropic Copyright Settlement Claim Form

To file the Anthropic copyright settlement claim form, confirm your book appears on the official Works List, gather your taxpayer information and work identifiers, then submit the form online at anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com or by mail to the settlement administrator before the March 30, 2026 deadline. The settlement resolves Bartz v. Anthropic with a $1.5 billion fund covering books Anthropic downloaded from the pirate sites Library Genesis and Pirate Library Mirror and used to train Claude. Each qualifying work is allocated roughly $3,000 before court-approved deductions.¹

Start by Searching the Works List

The class is defined by a specific database of books Anthropic downloaded from LibGen and PiLiMi. If your work is not on that list, you are not a class member and cannot file a claim, no matter how Anthropic may have otherwise encountered it.²

The Works List Lookup tool on the settlement website lets you search by author name, title, publisher, ISBN, ASIN, or copyright registration number. If your work appears, you can proceed to the claim form.²

Who Can File a Claim

Class membership belongs to the legal or beneficial copyright owners of listed works. That typically includes authors, publishers, literary trusts, estates, and author loan-out companies. The legal owner holds the exclusive U.S. right to publish and reproduce the work, which under a standard publishing contract is often the publisher. The beneficial owner is usually the author who assigned reproduction rights in exchange for royalties. Both can file for the same book.²

To qualify, a work must have an ISBN or ASIN, must have been registered with the U.S. Copyright Office within five years of first publication, and must have been registered before Anthropic downloaded it or within three months of first publication. Books on the Works List are presumed to meet these requirements, so you do not need to submit a copyright registration certificate with your claim. The administrator may, however, ask you to document that you are a legal or beneficial owner of a listed work.²

What to Have Ready Before You Start

Gathering a few things first will make the form go quickly:

A Social Security number or Employer Identification Number for tax reporting.
The title, ISBN or ASIN, and copyright registration number for each work you are claiming.
The percentage of the per-work award you believe should be paid to you versus any other owners of the same work.
A current email address and mailing address.
If you are not the sole owner, your publishing agreement or other contracts showing your rights, along with contact information for other rights holders (or confirmation that you have already provided it to the administrator or class counsel).

The documentation burden applies only when you need to prove you are an owner. The qualifying status of the work itself is already settled by its presence on the Works List.²

How to Submit the Form

Online submission at anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com is the recommended method. The portal walks you through your personal information, your works, your ownership share, and any uploads. You then acknowledge a declaration of truthfulness and submit. Save the confirmation the system generates.

If you prefer paper, mail your completed claim form and supporting documents to:

Anthropic Copyright Settlement
c/o JND Legal Administration
P.O. Box 91204
Seattle, WA 98111¹

Use a tracked shipping method so you can confirm delivery before the March 30, 2026 deadline. For questions, the settlement administrator can be reached at 877-206-2314 or info@AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com.²

When a Book Has More Than One Owner

You do not need to file jointly with other rights holders. Each owner files their own claim form, and the administrator combines claims for the same work during processing.²

The form asks what percentage of the per-work payment you are claiming. For most traditionally published books, the publisher is the legal owner and the author is the beneficial owner. If you want a split different from the default option in the form, you need to upload supporting documentation such as your publishing agreement. For “Education Works,” a separate section of the form asks owners to make a good-faith representation of their share and to upload relevant contracts or indicate they are unsure of the exact split.

Self-published authors, or authors whose rights have reverted from a publisher, can claim the entire per-work amount as sole owners without documenting a split.²

Deadlines That Still Matter

Claim filing deadline: March 30, 2026.¹
Final approval hearing: May 14, 2026.³
Earliest payments: June 2026 if the settlement is approved without appeals, with later rounds possible if objectors appeal.⁴

The opt-out and objection deadlines (January 29 and February 9, 2026) have passed. Class members who objected are still bound by the settlement if the court approves it, and they can still file a claim.⁵

What You Release by Filing

Filing a claim releases Anthropic from liability for downloading, keeping, and using the specific listed works for AI training and related research and development before August 25, 2025.⁶

The release does not cover future downloading or training, works you own that are not on the Works List, or claims for infringing outputs. If an Anthropic model generates text that infringes your copyright, that claim remains available even for works covered by the settlement.⁷

How Much You Can Expect and When

Anthropic agreed to a non-reversionary fund of $1.5 billion plus interest, divided equally across all works for which at least one valid claim is filed. Before deductions, that works out to roughly $3,000 per work.²

On March 19, 2026, class counsel moved for the following deductions from the gross fund: $187,500,000 in attorney fees (12.5 percent), $2,779,950 in litigation expenses, an $18,220,000 reserve for future expenses and administrator fees, and $150,000 in service awards ($50,000 for each of the three class representatives). If approved, the net distribution fund would be about $1.29 billion. If you own multiple qualifying works, you receive a payment for each. If multiple owners claim the same work, the per-work amount is split by ownership share.⁸

Payments will be made by ACH transfer, Zelle, or paper check. The administrator calculates individual distributions within 80 days of the claim deadline and may distribute in multiple rounds.⁹

Tax Treatment

Copyright infringement settlement payments are generally taxable. Under the Internal Revenue Code, all income is taxable unless a specific exclusion applies, and the exclusion for personal physical injuries does not reach intellectual property claims. Settlement proceeds that replace lost royalties or licensing fees are treated the same as the income they substitute for, which for most authors and publishers means ordinary income.¹⁰

The settlement administrator will likely issue a Form 1099 to claimants whose payments exceed the IRS reporting threshold. Keep your claim confirmation and payment records for your tax preparer. If your payment is split with a publisher or co-author, only your share is your income.

After You Submit

Once the filing deadline passes, the administrator reviews every submission and cross-references ownership against the Works List. If your claim is deficient or lacks clear proof of ownership, you will receive a notice with a window to supply additional information. Respond promptly. An uncorrected deficient claim will be denied.

After the May 14 fairness hearing, if the court grants final approval and no appeals follow, payments can begin as early as June 2026. If objectors appeal but the settlement is upheld, payments more likely arrive by summer or fall 2026, and a contested appeal could extend the timeline further.⁴

Keep your contact information and payment preferences current with the administrator at info@AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com or 877-206-2314 so your payment is not delayed when it is issued.

1
Anthropic Copyright Settlement. Anthropic Copyright Settlement
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Anthropic Copyright Settlement. Anthropic Copyright Settlement – Frequently Asked Questions
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Authors Alliance. Bartz v. Anthropic Settlement Hearing Moved to May 14, 2026
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Independent Publishers Guild. Bartz v. Anthropic Detailed Timeline Post Preliminary Approval
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Anthropic Copyright Settlement. Anthropic Copyright Settlement – Key Dates
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Ropes & Gray LLP. Anthropic’s Landmark Copyright Settlement: Implications for AI Developers and Enterprise Users
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The Authors Guild. Opting Out of the Anthropic Settlement: What Authors Should Know
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The Authors Guild. Anthropic Settlement Update: 91.3 Percent of Books Claimed in Settlement
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The Authors Guild. Is Your Book in the Anthropic Settlement Class? Find Out and File a Claim
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Internal Revenue Service. Tax Implications of Settlements and Judgments