Carreyrou v Anthropic PBC

Carreyrou et al. v. Anthropic PBC et al. (Case No. 3:25-cv-10897) is a copyright infringement lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (San Jose division) by author John Carreyrou and other writers who opted out of the Bartz v. Anthropic class action settlement, alleging that Anthropic and other AI companies used their copyrighted books to train AI models without authorization or compensation.<ref name="docket">Justia: Carreyrou v. Anthropic, Case No. 3:25-cv-10897</ref><ref name="chatgpt">Judge P. Casey Pitts Gets Reassigned — John Carreyrou v. Anthropic Copyright Suit, ChatGPT Is Eating the World, March 2, 2026</ref>

Background

The case arises from the Bartz v. Anthropic PBC class action settlement, which provided for a $1.5 billion preliminary settlement covering approximately 500,000 titles allegedly pirated from sources including Library Genesis. Authors who opted out of that settlement by the January 29, 2026 deadline—including investigative journalist John Carreyrou—chose to pursue individual claims seeking statutory damages of up to $150,000 per work.<ref name="authorsalliance">AI Class Action Litigation Update: Books — Where Things Stand in Early 2026, Authors Alliance, January 27, 2026</ref><ref name="writerbeware">Anthropic Copyright Settlement: April Update, Writer Beware, April 10, 2026</ref>

Claims

The complaint alleges copyright infringement against multiple AI companies that used the plaintiffs' books to train their models:

Anthropic PBC — Training Claude on copyrighted books from pirated sources
Google — Use of copyrighted works in AI training
Meta Platforms — Use of copyrighted works in LLaMA training
xAI — Use of copyrighted works in Grok training
Perplexity AI — Use of copyrighted works in AI search models<ref name="chatgpt" />

OpenAI was initially named as a defendant, but claims against OpenAI were severed and transferred to multidistrict litigation (MDL), separate from the remaining omnibus case.<ref name="chatgpt" />

Procedural History

Filing: The case was filed in 2025 (docket number 3:2025cv10897) following opt-outs from the Bartz settlement.<ref name="docket" />
Judge Assignment: The case was originally assigned to Judge William Alsup (who retired end of 2025), then to Judge Trina Thompson (who recused herself), and was reassigned to Judge P. Casey Pitts on or before March 2, 2026.<ref name="chatgpt" />
Defendant Responses: Perplexity AI had until February 26, 2026, to answer the complaint. Anthropic sought severance on March 25, 2026.<ref name="chatgpt" /><ref name="docket" />
Potential Severance: Judge Pitts may soon rule on severing additional defendants from the omnibus case.<ref name="chatgpt" />

Relationship to Bartz v. Anthropic

The Bartz v. Anthropic class action settlement ($1.5 billion) covered piracy claims for approximately 500,000 titles from sources like LibGen, but did not address fair use for AI training. The final fairness hearing is scheduled for May 14, 2026. Opt-out plaintiffs—including Carreyrou—chose to pursue higher individual damages rather than accept the class settlement terms.<ref name="societyofauthors">Anthropic: List of Stolen Works Published, Society of Authors, January 20, 2026</ref><ref name="authorsguild">What Authors Need to Know About the Anthropic Settlement, Authors Guild</ref>

Significance

Carreyrou v. Anthropic represents a significant development in AI copyright litigation, as opt-out authors pursue individual claims outside the class settlement framework. The case tests whether authors can obtain damages beyond the class settlement for AI training on their copyrighted works. The multi-defendant structure and potential severance issues make this a case to watch as it develops alongside the broader landscape of AI copyright litigation.<ref name="chatgpt" /><ref name="docket" />

References