Judge puts Anthropic’s $1.5 billion book piracy settlement on hold

Here is a 184-word summary of the news article: A federal judge has put on hold a $1.5 billion settlement between Anthropic and a group of US authors over book piracy claims. Judge William Alsup expressed concerns about the terms of the agreement, stating that class action lawyers may be forcing a deal "down the throats of authors." Alsup wants to review more information about the claims process and ensure that class members receive proper notice. Anthropic had agreed to the landmark settlement last week, resolving a class action lawsuit that accused the AI company of training its models on hundreds of thousands of copyrighted books. While Alsup previously ruled that Anthropic's use of purchased books was fair use, he said the company could be liable for using illegally downloaded works. The proposed settlement would provide authors and publishers around $3,000 per covered work, but Alsup questioned whether this was sufficient and if other lawsuits may emerge. The Association of American Publishers criticized Alsup's "lack of understanding" of the publishing industry, while the authors' lawyer said they are committed to ensuring every proper claim is compensated. Alsup will revisit the settlement in late September.