Anthropic's Record Copyright Settlement Exposes Publishers' Rights-Tracking Gaps

Anthropic's $1.5 billion Bartz v. Anthropic settlement is the largest U.S. copyright payout ever. Payments of $3,000 per title are reaching nearly 500,000 works, but publishers and agents are claiming funds authors say belong to them. The error pattern points to systemic gaps in how the industry tracks rights — gaps that will shape future AI copyright settlements.