News Summary: Judge Gives Preliminary Approval to Anthropic Settlement Covering 482,000 Books
As promised, here is an update on yesterday’s hearing in the Anthropic case. This is very much breaking and emerging news.
News Podcast: Judge Reviews Anthropic Piracy Case, New AI Licensing, Audiobooks Surpass E-Books, Disney Plus Partners with Webtoon
On this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast, Dan Holloway reports on the Anthropic class action hearing, where the judge will decide if the database of pirated titles is clear enough for authors to check their inclusion. He also highlights a new “Really Sensible Licensing” system for AI use of creative works, audiobook revenues overtaking e-books in monthly reports, and Disney Plus joining with Webtoon as graphic novels gain ground both online and in bookstores.
News Summary: AAP Reports Audio Surpasses Ebooks; Barnes & Noble Expands, Disney Plus Partners with Webtoon
The latest set of industry figures from the Association of American Publishers (AAP—thanks as always to Porter Anderson at Publishing Perspectives for reporting the reports) is no more definitive than any other and comes with all the regular caveats about not covering large parts of the market such as ebooks with no ISBN. But it remains of interest.
News Summary: Really Sensible Licensing Offers Writers New Options; Anthropic Case Ruling Expected
Thanks to long-term indie friend Guy Gonzalez for sharing details of a new way of communicating how you want AI companies to treat the material to which you hold the rights. Really Sensible Licensing (RSL) allows you to choose the way you want firms to handle your creative content, and the conditions you set for them to do so.
News Summary: TikTok’s US Future Uncertain as Oracle and Andreessen Horowitz Step In
Tucked away at the end of both the last column and this week’s podcast was a piece of news that was breaking at the time. It is still breaking but, like a very slow wave on a very shallow beach, some more of it has now broken. That story was the one we started the year speculating about: the future of TikTok in the US.
News Podcast: Frankfurt and SelfPubCon Preview, TikTok Ban Averted, Apple Faces New AI Lawsuit, Study Says AI Shapes Language
On this episode of the Self-Publishing News Podcast, Dan Holloway previews October’s conferences, including Frankfurt and ALLi’s Self-Publishing Advice Conference, with themes from page-to-screen rights to BookTok trends. He reports that TikTok is set to avoid a U.S. ban, a new class action targets Apple over use of the Books3 dataset, and a study suggests AI is changing language by spreading common buzzwords.
News Summary: ALLi’s SelfPubCon25 to Spotlight New Trends; TikTok Ban Deal Reported
We are gearing up as I write for the autumn/spring (hemisphere-dependent) conference season. Already, many juicy details are emerging about the themes and streams of Frankfurt—more of which as they emerge. But that also means it’s time for the next event of all, and the mustn’t-miss fixture in the indie calendar: ALLi’s own Self-Publishing Advice Conference.
News Summary: Anthropic Case Reveals Unregistered Works by Publishers; Apple Hit with New Lawsuit
The class action lawsuit against Anthropic has dominated the news for a while now and looks set to continue to do so. The latest development, uncovered by Jane Friedman, is the light that the ruling about the composition of the class in the class action has cast on the relation between traditionally published authors and their publishers.
News Summary: James Patterson Awards $50,000 Grants, AI Research Sparks Debate on Language Change
Would $50,000 landing in your lap give you the breathing space in terms of time and life admin to clear your head and your diary and finally finish the book you’ve been thinking about for years? James Patterson certainly thinks, or at least hopes, so. Last week he announced that he had chosen 12 authors each to be recipients of a “Go Finish Your Book!” grant of that amount. If there is a repeat offer at some point in the future, I will of course update you.
News Podcast: ALLi Launches Author Income Survey, Judge Rejects Anthropic Deal, Patterson Awards $50K
On this episode of the Self-Publishing News Podcast, Dan Holloway highlights the launch of ALLi’s Author Income Survey, a vital tool to track how indie writers earn from their work and strengthen industry advocacy. He also reports on the judge’s rejection of the proposed Anthropic settlement, which had offered $3,000 per pirated title, and notes that James Patterson has awarded $50,000 each to 12 authors to support their writing.
News Summary: ALLi Launches 2025 Author Income Survey to Track Earnings and Trends
In the words of the fabulously crafted release from Orna, “It’s time to update the story only you can tell! ALLi’s 2025 Author Income Survey is now open and we need your data—anonymously—to push back against outdated ‘starving-artist’ statistics and to shape the services we advocate for on your behalf.”
News Summary: Judge Rejects $3000 Per Title Settlement Figure in Anthropic Case
As a newbie indie writer in the UK, I remember many forum discussions on what seemed a dry topic back in the innocent days of the late 2000s as we tried to grapple with the logistics of what was still a fairly niche path to pursue. That topic was “Given that we are protected by UK copyright law, why would we need to follow the complicated and expensive (many of us were penniless) process of registering copyright with the US Copyright Office?” This broke down into two practical subquestions: “Is it really practical to imagine that we will sue someone for infringing our copyright?” and “What would it actually gain us?”