At the 14 May 2026 fairness hearing in Bartz v Anthropic, Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín took the $1.5bn class settlement under submission with a claims rate of 92.77%, covering 447,576 of 482,460 works1. On around 18 May the judge ordered supplemental briefing, due 21 May, on whether unexcused late opt-outs should be honoured. The fee petition stands at $187.5m, and final approval has not been entered.
Bartz v Anthropic concerns claims over books copied from pirate libraries, heard in the Northern District of California. A fairness hearing is the stage at which a judge decides whether a proposed class settlement is fair to the people it binds. "Taking it under submission" means the judge has reserved judgement rather than approving on the day. The late-opt-out question matters because every author who exits the class keeps the right to sue Anthropic separately, which changes both the defendant's exposure and the value of the deal on the table.
News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson referred to the same class fund in his May earnings call. HarperCollins is a class member and its allocation is undisclosed. The court is reviewing this settlement; its decision will not set a mandatory tariff for other publishers' future licences.
