Summary
The United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted final approval to the $1.5 billion copyright settlement between Anthropic and a class of authors and copyright owners on 20 July 2026. The court approved the distribution plan, entered final judgment and dismissed the action with prejudice, while retaining jurisdiction over the administration and enforcement of the settlement. The approved Works List contains 482,460 books obtained through the LibGen and PiLiMi collections, and claims had been submitted for 440,490 works by April 2026. Dr. Kalyan C. Kankanala's book, The Oath, appears on that list, and the prescribed claim has been submitted through the official settlement process.
The $1.5 billion copyright settlement between Anthropic and a class of authors and copyright owners has received final approval from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The court passed the final approval order on 20 July 2026, approved the distribution plan, entered final judgment and dismissed the action with prejudice. It retained jurisdiction over the administration and enforcement of the settlement.
Intellepedia had earlier reported on the dispute and the settlement terms. This update concerns the final approval and one title appearing on the settlement list: Dr. Kalyan C. Kankanala’s book, The Oath.
From Proposal to Final Approval
The settlement concerns qualifying books obtained through the LibGen and PiLiMi collections and included on the approved Works List. The court found the settlement fair, reasonable and adequate after considering the risks and cost of continued litigation, the response of the class and the objections placed before it.
The final Works List contains 482,460 books. Claims had been submitted for 440,490 works by April 2026, covering approximately 91.3 per cent of the list. The settlement created a non reversionary fund of $1.5 billion, which means that money placed in the fund will not ordinarily return to Anthropic merely because some amounts remain undistributed.
The court referred to an estimated gross payment of approximately $3,000 for each eligible work. That figure does not represent a guaranteed payment to every author. Legal fees, administration costs and other approved expenses must first be deducted. Payments may also be divided where authors, publishers or other rightsholders share interests in the same book.
The Oath Is Among the Listed Books
Dr. Kalyan C. Kankanala’s book, The Oath, appears on the Works List forming part of the Anthropic settlement. Dr. Kankanala did not authorise Anthropic to obtain or use the relevant copy of the book. He submitted the prescribed claim through the official settlement process after the title was identified on the list.
The settlement administrator will consider the claim under the same verification and allocation rules that apply to other claimants. No claim amount has yet been determined. Submission of a claim remains subject to proof of eligibility, ownership and compliance with the settlement conditions.
The listing of The Oath provides a specific Indian connection to a settlement involving nearly half a million books. It also shows how a dispute built around very large datasets eventually reaches individual titles and rightsholders across different countries.
What Happens Next
Final approval removed the principal judicial hurdle, but it does not mean that payments will be made immediately. The settlement must become effective under its terms, and the administrator must complete the verification and allocation of eligible claims. Any appeal or other permitted proceeding may affect the distribution schedule.
The final order approved a negotiated settlement. It was not a jury verdict after a completed trial on liability and damages. With the court’s approval now in place, the case moves from settlement litigation to claims administration and eventual distribution. For The Oath, the next step is consideration of the claim already submitted through the official process.
The Oath it available on Google Play Book: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Dr_Kalyan_C_Kankanala_The_Oath?id=jnf4DQAAQBAJ&hl=en
References
- Bartz v. Anthropic PBC, No. 3:24-cv-05417-AMO, slip op. at 1-4, 22-23 (N.D. Cal. July 20, 2026), URL: https://assets-us-01.kc-usercontent.com/1eeb16db-4934-006e-40a6-38fa91285ebb/36cce252-a32c-4cbb-a624-31dd8ac9574c/2026-07-20%20Order%20Granting%20Final%20_dckt%20680_0_.pdf (last visited July 22, 2026).
- Anthropic Copyright Settlement, Documents, URL: https://www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/documents (last visited July 22, 2026).
- Associated Press, Judge Approves a $1.5B Anthropic Settlement over Pirated Books Used to Train the Claude Chatbot, AP News (July 21, 2026), URL: https://apnews.com/article/ai-anthropic-copyright-settlement-claude-books-bartz-74b140444023898aeba8579b6e9f0d63 (last visited July 22, 2026).
- Jim Milliot, Judge Gives Final Approval of $1.5 Billion Anthropic Settlement, Publishers Weekly (July 21, 2026), URL: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/copyright/article/100888-judge-gives-final-approval-in-1-5-billion-settlement-in-anthropic-copyright-case.html (last visited July 22, 2026).
Disclaimer
This report is based on the court’s order, published sources and factual information supplied for the article. It is intended for general information and does not constitute legal advice. An AI application was used to generate parts of this report based on user inputs and prompts.