The Anthropic settlement has just jumped through one of the final hoops before people can expect the courts to order payment. May 14 saw the so-called “fairness” hearing. Now I will preface this as always by saying I am not an expert in the law, and certainly not US as opposed to UK law. On the other hand I've read a lot of coverage of legal cases over the years of reporting for this column (and even in my spare time).
ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway
My understanding is that the purpose of such a hearing is to establish whether a proposed settlement is, well, fair. And to give the judge the opportunity to raise pertinent questions relating to it and potential claimants to raise objections.
You will recall that the original judge (now retired) had made some stipulations to ensure that rights holders who were eligible to be part of the class in the class action were able to discover their status and register their claim. This hearing heard that the number who had now done so accounted for 447,576, or nearly 93 percent of titles in the class (even more than the 91 percent I have been reporting because some claims were still being processed, not because any have been added since the deadline).
Objections Raised
There were some objectors to the settlement (though only fifty-three in total, of whom it seems half actually wanted to be added to it). And those who spoke during the hearing raised the issue I have seen many authors mention. $3,000, the expected payout for each title, is not a large amount compared to the maximum allowed by law. That is $150,000. You will recall that Anthropic made vigorous representation early on in proceedings that anything approaching that maximum would bankrupt them.
The Copyright Registration Question
Another objector raised an issue that I know has caused a lot of the debate in indie circles (and no small amount among authors whose publishers hadn't taken steps creators had expected them to). And that's the requirement for titles in the class to be registered with the US Copyright Office. The objector pointed out that this is not required in law.
A ruling is awaited. But while I would love to report movement on the last point raised, it looks like the settlement will be waved through with little friction from here on in.
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