In a significant development for the intersection of artificial intelligence and copyright law, U.S. District Judge William Alsup has certified a class action lawsuit against AI startup Anthropic PBC. This decision allows authors whose works were allegedly downloaded from pirate websites to collectively pursue claims against the company.
The lawsuit, initiated by authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson, alleges that Anthropic downloaded up to 7 million books from pirate sites such as LibGen and PiLiMi between 2021 and 2022 to train its AI system. The authors contend that this unauthorized use of their copyrighted material could render Anthropic liable for substantial damages. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-authors-suing-anthropic-can-band-together-copyright-class-action-judge-rules-2025-07-17/?utm_source=openai))
Judge Alsup’s ruling permits the three authors to represent all U.S. writers whose works were allegedly used without permission. He dismissed Anthropic’s argument that identifying all affected works and authors would be impractical, stating that a jury could work with a list based on catalogs from the pirate libraries. ([news.bloomberglaw.com](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/authors-copyright-class-action-certified-against-anthropic?utm_source=openai))
Previously, in June, Judge Alsup determined that Anthropic’s use of copyrighted books to train its AI model constituted fair use under U.S. copyright law. However, he also found that the company’s practice of downloading and storing pirated books in a centralized repository infringed upon authors’ rights. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/anthropic-wins-key-ruling-ai-authors-copyright-lawsuit-2025-06-24/?utm_source=openai))
This case is part of a broader trend of litigation targeting AI firms, including OpenAI, Microsoft, and Meta, over the unauthorized use of copyrighted material. The outcome of these cases could have significant implications for the AI industry’s use of existing content in training models. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-authors-suing-anthropic-can-band-together-copyright-class-action-judge-rules-2025-07-17/?utm_source=openai))
Anthropic, backed by Amazon and Alphabet, has not publicly commented on the recent class certification ruling. The company has previously defended its practices as legally permissible and beneficial to creativity and innovation. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/anthropic-wins-key-ruling-ai-authors-copyright-lawsuit-2025-06-24/?utm_source=openai))
The case is scheduled to proceed to trial in December, where the focus will be on the alleged use of pirated copies and the potential damages involved. ([opb.org](https://www.opb.org/article/2025/06/26/federal-judge-rules-in-ai-company-anthropic-s-favor-in-landmark-copyright-infringement-lawsuit-brought-by-authors/?utm_source=openai))