Judge Rules AI's Book Use as 'Fair Use' But Orders Trial on Infringement

A U.S. judge declared that Anthropic's use of books for AI training was 'fair use', but its storage of 7 million pirated texts infringed copyright law. A trial will determine damages. Anthropic, sued by authors, argues its methods encourage creativity; this sets precedent in the AI copyright debate.

A federal judge in San Francisco has determined that Anthropic's utilization of books for training its AI system is considered a 'fair use' under U.S. copyright law. However, Judge William Alsup also found that Anthropic's practice of storing over 7 million pirated books infringes on the authors' copyrights, ordering a trial in December to address the potential damages.

U.S. copyright law characterizes willful infringement as potentially warranting damages of up to $150,000 per work. Anthropic, supported by major firms like Amazon and Alphabet, was sued in a class action for allegedly using pirated books without consent to develop its AI, Claude. The company, pleased with the partial court ruling, highlights the transformative nature of its AI, promoting creativity and scientific advancement.

This case is one among many involving authors and copyright holders suing tech companies such as OpenAI, Microsoft, and Meta over AI training practices. The contested concept of 'fair use' is crucial for these companies' legal defenses in AI development. Anthropic claims its book usage serves to study writing and extract non-copyrightable information for revolutionary technology. However, Alsup contested the legality of acquiring books from pirate sites for AI development, emphasizing the need for lawful access.

(With inputs from agencies.)