We end the week with a round-up of a few stories that have caught my eye, each of which builds upon things that have been rumbling on for some time. We start with an update on what is now the class action against Anthropic in relation to its alleged use of pirated copies of copyright-protected works. Class action lawyers have joined the case, and the Association of American Publishers is offering to act as a contact point for those wishing to be part of the suit. Meanwhile, Anthropic has appealed against the decision that the case can proceed as a class action.
High Stakes for Anthropic
ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway
What it would mean for Anthropic if they lost is the subject of much debate. An interesting Fortune article explains how the sums may stack up, with damages likely to be tied to statutory amounts that start at $750 per work and go up to $150,000, rather than any attempt being made to calculate lost earnings. Suffice to say, the potential bill could be astronomical, with the question being how many zeros get added to a billion.
It is unlikely to go that far, but in theory, this could be a bankruptcy-causing sum. I’m tempted to ask Claude how to build the world’s tiniest violin, but maybe I’ll steal from the popular meme instead and simply comment that the best time to think about this might have been before wading into the LibGen archives.
Also in the courts, Australia has followed the US in issuing a ruling against Apple’s charging mechanisms within the app store. It means Apple may no longer be able to take a slice of in-app purchases, which could lead to changes to apps currently in the Australian app store and new apps featuring—possibly including plaintiffs Fortnite.
Lessons from Wattpad and Radish
To finish, not strictly a news story, but something to cast your eye over is a fascinating interview with Wattpad’s president Aron Levitz in Publishing Perspectives. The interview is nonetheless prompted by the news—specifically, the demise of Radish, which was Wattpad’s most high-profile competitor in the serial social reading space. There are some essential insights there that all indies could learn from.
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