The publisher of Harry Potter and bestsellers by Sarah J Maas has revealed it is set for a payout from a record 1.5 billion dollar (£1.1 billion) settlement of a copyright class action in America against AI firm Anthropic.
London-listed Bloomsbury said it would share in the settlement – said to be the largest known copyright payout in US history – following a lawsuit brought by authors who alleged that Claude chatbot firm Anthropic used books to train its AI models without permission or paying for the content.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “The debate around people getting paid for the use of copyrighted material in AI continues to rage and the latest announcement from publisher Bloomsbury provides insight into the latest developments in this area.
“The decision of a US district court to approve a $1.5 billion class action suit against Anthropic for training its models on content it had not purchased has wider implications than just the windfall Bloomsbury will receive as a portion of this figure.
“It is also a positive pointer for the rest of the publishing industry given what it might mean for future AI licensing deals.
“Bloomsbury is already receiving non-exclusive AI-related licensing revenue under agreements with large language model developers which require opt-ins from its authors.
“The influx of cash associated with the settlement will further bolster an already strong balance sheet.
“Investors will hope the launch of HBO’s TV adaptation of the Harry Potter series this Christmas can work some magic on book sales, and two new titles in the coming months from popular romantasy author Sarah J. Maas are another potential catalyst for Bloomsbury.”
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