Why should you copyright your book? The Copyright Act of 1976 stated that in the United States any creative work (writings, music, drama, etc) is copyrighted the moment it is created.  So why should writers pay money to copyright their work?

Some would say having an “official” copyright makes suing a plagiarizer easier, that you have a better case. But unless you are a best selling author, or the result of the plagiarism involves really large amounts of money, most writers won’t take action to sue the plagiarizer. Lawyers are expensive.

Some publishers don’t bother copyrighting the books they publish because they feel the Copyright Act is sufficient. (I’ve had publishers tell me that.) They say, if I want to copyright my book, feel free to do so. (And I did a few times.) But publishing houses are in a different position than most individual writers. They have lawyers who will pursue a plagiarism case.

So, why copyright your book?

Right now there is a class action law suit against LibGen and PiLiMi. Basically, it reads:

”All beneficial or legal copyright owners of the exclusive right to reproduce copies of any book in the versions of LibGen or PiLiMi downloaded by Anthropic. “Book” refers to any work possessing an ISBN or ASIN which was registered with the United States Copyright Office within five years of the work’s publication and which was registered with the United States Copyright Office before being downloaded by Anthropic, or within three months of publication. Excluded are the directors, officers and employees of Anthropic, personnel of federal agencies, and district court personnel.”

It seems that LibGen and PiLiMi have pirated copies of writers’ works and are using those works to train AI. According to the Authors Guild, which has been present for negotiations, the result of the lawsuit is the anthropic copyright settlement, which will be for $1.5 billion dollars. The money will be paid in four installments; $300M within five business days of the court’s preliminary approval (which could be soon), $300M within five business days of the court’s final approval, then $450M (plus interest) at 12 months and $450M (plus interest) at 24 months after preliminary approval. If you (i.e., any of your books) are included in the class Works list, you need to submit a claim form to receive a settlement payment.

If your books are in the settlement, you will receive a formal notice by mail or email from the settlement administrator. The notice will explain the terms of the settlement, your rights, and next steps.

For more complete information, check out:

https://writerbeware.blog/2025/08/15/bartz-v-anthropic-find-out-if-you-may-be-part-of-this-class-action/

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/03/search-libgen-data-set/682094/

https://secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/register

What Authors Need to Know About the $1.5 Billion Anthropic Settlement.

https://writerbeware.blog/2025/09/26/bartz-v-anthropic-settlement-an-update-for-authors