WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - In a closely watched decision, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled late Monday that Anthropic's use of copyrighted books to train its artificial intelligence system qualifies as fair use under U.S. law, a major victory for the AI industry.
However, the court also found the company liable for copyright infringement over its storage of pirated books and ordered a trial to determine damages.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup concluded that Anthropic's use of works by authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson to train its Claude language model was 'highly transformative' and aligned with copyright's goal of advancing creativity and innovation.
Alsup likened the AI's learning process to that of a reader aspiring to become a writer absorbing idea to create original content rather than reproducing or imitating the source material. The ruling represents the first judicial interpretation of fair use as it applies to generative AI, shaping the legal landscape for the technology's development.
But the court drew a sharp distinction between training practices and Anthropic's accumulation of more than seven million pirated books in what Alsup described as a 'central library.' The judge said this unauthorized collection infringed the authors' rights and fell outside fair use protections.
A jury trial set for December will assess how much Anthropic owes, with potential statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work.
Anthropic, backed by tech giants Amazon and Alphabet, welcomed the ruling, calling it consistent with copyright's mission to encourage creativity and scientific progress.
The case underscores the growing clash between AI companies and copyright holders over the use of protected works in AI development.
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