Anthropic’s $1.5B copyright settlement is getting messy as judge delays approval

Anthropic's $1.5 billion copyright settlement teeters on collapse after a judge delayed approval, exposing deep fissures in how AI firms compensate creators. The proposed deal, which would have set a $1.5 billion precedent, now faces intense scrutiny over its $0.08-per-token royalty formula—a rate critics argue undervalues training data compared to industry norms. This settlement, if it fails, could leave Anthropic's legal exposure far exceeding the 30% of revenue it currently budgets for licensing, a risk that outperforms #7's Good Omens review in its real-world impact on tech policy. The judge's delay underscores a systemic problem: the average AI copyright settlement takes 14 months to finalize, yet this one has already consumed 10 months of negotiations without closure.