Nearly 120,000 authors have come forward to claim a share of Anthropic's $1.5 billion copyright settlement, Reuters reported, in a case that has become one of the clearest tests yet of how courts may treat the use of books to train artificial intelligence systems. The filing represents about 91% of the works covered, according to court papers, and a judge is due to consider final approval at a hearing next month. If approved, eligible writers are set to receive $3,000 for each infringed work.

The settlement follows a closely watched class action brought in 2024, in which authors accused Anthropic of using their books without permission to build its models. The court drew a distinction between training on lawfully obtained material, which it said could amount to fair use, and the use of pirated books, which it found was not protected. That split helped drive the size of the payout and has made the case a reference point in the wider debate over generative AI and copyright.

Elsewhere, the long-running fight between Kraftwerk and producer Moses Pelham ended in a fresh setback for the German group after the European Court of Justice ruled in Pelham's favour, according to The Quietus. The dispute centred on a two-second drum loop taken from Kraftwerk's 1977 track "Metall auf Metall" and reused in Sabrina Setlur's "Nur Mir" two decades later. Judges said the sample was permitted under the EU copyright law's "pastiche" exception, bringing a further twist to a battle that has moved through the courts for years.

And in a more immediate sign of how aggressively rights holders are policing online video, Ringside News reported that clips from WrestleMania 42 have been disappearing from social media, particularly X, after copyright notices and takedowns began appearing on uploads. The removal campaign has prompted speculation that ESPN, which is tied to the event's distribution, may be taking a firmer line than fans have seen in previous years. Taken together, the three stories underline how unsettled copyright enforcement remains, whether the dispute involves AI training data, musical sampling or viral sports highlights.

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Source: Noah Wire Services