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Shakespeare v Anthropic PBC

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Case Information
Case name Shakespeare v. Anthropic PBC[1]
Court U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California[1]
Docket 5:26-cv-05931-PCP[2]
Filed June 17, 2026[1]
Judge(s) P. Casey Pitts[2]
Plaintiffs Thomas William Shakespeare and more than 100 other authors, estates and rightsholders[1]
Defendants Anthropic PBC; Dario Amodei; Benjamin Mann[1]
Case type Civil copyright action[1]
Claims / issues Alleged downloading, uploading, retention and distribution of books obtained through shadow libraries and BitTorrent[1]
Status September 18, 2026: Anthropic moved to dismiss the first amended complaint; hearing noticed for November 19, 2026.[2]

Shakespeare v. Anthropic PBC is a copyright action by authors and other rightsholders who opted out of or were outside the settlement class in Bartz v Anthropic PBC. The complaint alleges that Anthropic and two executives used BitTorrent to obtain books from shadow libraries and retained copies in a permanent library. These are allegations, not findings of liability.[1]

Motion to dismiss

Anthropic’s September 18, 2026 motion argues that the Bartz settlement bars claims concerning eight works, that some plaintiffs lack standing for identified works, and that the claims are untimely. It also challenges the distribution-right theory. The motion was noticed for a November 19 hearing and had not been decided when this page was prepared.[2]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 N.D. Cal., complaint, ECF 1, filed June 17, 2026, pp. 1–6
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 N.D. Cal., Anthropic motion to dismiss, ECF 48, filed September 18, 2026, pp. 1–2
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