By Kim Pawlak

On July 20, 2026, United States District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin approved the final settlement in the landmark $1.5 billion copyright infringement class action Bartz v. Anthropic, calling the settlement “fair, reasonable, and adequate.” The court also ruled that the proposed settlement “was negotiated at arm’s length; the relief provided for the Class is adequate; and the proposed Settlement treats Class Members equitably relative to each other.” She overruled all 53 objections filed with the court opposing the settlement on various grounds.

Class counsel reported a 91.3% claims rate, and 350 valid opt-outs representing 1,802 or .03% of the total number of Works.

The court reaffirmed the process for resolution of any disputes, which is that any that “cannot be resolved by mutual agreement with the settlement administrator” will be submitted to the Special Master, and that all submissions “should remain confidential and under seal.” All decisions by the Special Master will be “final and binding without a right of appeal.”

Although the court found class representatives Andrea Bartz, Kirk Wallace, and Charles Graeber “have adequately represented the Class,” it rejected their request for each to receive $50,000 of the settlement funds, reducing the amount to $15,000 each.

The court denied Class Counsel’s requested 12.5 percent of the $1.5 billion settlement fund, which would have resulted in legal fees in the amount of $187,500,000, as too high. The court instead granted them a multiplier of their reported legal fees for a total payment of $101,561,111, plus expense reimbursements of close to $3 million, with a cost reserve of $18.2 million in anticipated expenses for the claims administration process.

There is a 30-day window from July 20 during which people can try to appeal the judge’s order, so no payouts would occur until at least after that date. TAA is in communication with class counsel and will provide more information as we have it.

Read the full Final Order.