U.S. District Judge William Alsup ruled that Anthropic's use of copyrighted books to train its AI model, Claude, qualifies as fair use. This decision addresses the lawsuit filed by authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson, who alleged that Anthropic infringed their copyrights by using pirated versions of their books for AI training.
Judge Alsup concluded that the AI training process was "exceedingly transformative," comparing it to a human writer learning from existing works to create new content. He emphasized that the AI's purpose was not to replicate or replace the original works but to generate distinct, innovative outputs.
However, the court found that Anthropic infringed on copyrights by storing more than seven million pirated books in a centralized repository, which was not directly tied to the AI training process. This action was deemed not to fall under fair use, and a trial is scheduled for December to determine potential damages, which could reach up to $150,000 per infringed work.
The ruling provides legal clarity for AI developers, affirming that using copyrighted materials for training purposes can be considered fair use if the process is transformative. However, it also underscores the importance of sourcing training data lawfully, as the unauthorized acquisition and storage of copyrighted works remain subject to infringement claims.
While this ruling is noteworthy, the plaintiffs will appeal, so Bartz v. Anthropic PBC isn't over; it's really just getting started.
As always your thoughts and comments are both welcome and encouraged. -s
P.S. Have you written your company's Enterprise AI Governance Manifesto? If not, here's how.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.
