Some authors hoping to receive their share of Anthropic’s $1.

5 billion copyright settlement said they received surprising emails this week — emails informing them that someone else was making a claim on their payments.

Anthropic settled a copyright class action suit last year after a judge ruled that training AI models on copyrighted material is legal under fair use, but pirating that material was not.

The deal received final approval in July, allowing payments to move forward. Under the terms, authors of nearly 500,000 titles will be paid $3,000 for each pirated work.

If the book is still in-print with a traditional publisher, the money is split 50-50 between author and publisher.

If the book was self-published or rights reverted, the author should get the entire payment.

But writers have been posting on social media that publishers seem to be claiming more than their fair share.

For example, author April Henry questioned HarperCollins claiming a book that reverted at least 17 years ago.

At the blog Writers Beware, Victoria Strauss reported complaints falling into two categories: publishers seeking payment for works they no longer have a legitimate claim on (rights reverted), and publishers seeking full 100% payment when only entitled to 50%.

Strauss noted that some publishers have said it’s a mistake and asked Anthropic to fix it.

Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger does not see it as a grab by publishers, but rather the result of bad record-keeping and a confusing settlement process.

However, Strauss suggested the number and consistency of reports indicate something more widespread and systemic.

Additionally, literary agencies are also making claims, which is surprising since agents are not rightsholders. Author Courtney Milan bluntly condemned agents trying to claim percentages.

The article also provides details on how authors can dispute payment allocations, noting that rights reversion must have occurred before August 10, 2022, for a full claim.