Bartz v. Anthropic Copyright Case: A Landmark Settlement for Textbook & Academic Authors. What’s next.

As the only association devoted solely to supporting and advocating for the interests of textbook and academic authors, TAA represents not only its nearly 3,600 author-members, but thousands more. In the historic ruling for U.S. copyright holders in the case of Bartz v. Anthropic, in which the court awarded $1.5 billion to authors and publishers whose books were pirated by Anthropic to train its large language models (LLMs), educational/textbook and university press/academic authors represent almost half of the close to 500,000 works infringed in the class.

At a September 25, 2025 hearing, attended by TAA Executive Director Kim Pawlak, TAA Board Treasurer and mathematics textbook author Michael Sullivan, and TAA Board Member and Intellectual Property Attorney Brenda Ulrich, the court granted preliminary approval of the settlement agreement proposed by the plaintiffs, which outlined the claims process for authors and publishers.

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What Does Your Contract Allow Your Publisher to Do?

In her 2025 TAA Virtual Conference session, “Can My Publisher Really Do That?”, Brenda Ulrich, an intellectual property attorney with Archstone Law, said that authors often ask her questions that boil down to “can my publisher do that?”, but what they’re really asking is, “what does my contract allow my publisher to do?”.

“At the end of the day, the rules of your relationship with your publisher come down to what’s in the contract,” she said. “That’s why it is really important to carefully negotiate a contract from the start and make sure that from the start you understand what it means. That way, when things get dicey and divisive, the contract is the road map that you, the publisher, your lawyer, and ultimately, perhaps even a court, will look at to determine whether you or your publisher can ‘do that.’”

She shared some of the most common questions she hears from authors. Here are two:

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2025 TAA Virtual Conference: A Resounding Success

We’re thrilled to share that the 2025 TAA Conference on Textbook & Academic Authoring was a tremendous success — and it’s all thanks to our incredible attendees, speakers, sponsors, and staff who made this event truly special.

Held virtually June 9-10, this year’s conference brought together textbook and academic authors from across the country for two days of learning, connection, and inspiration. With 147 participants and a lineup of close to two dozen expert-led sessions, the event offered something valuable for every stage of the author journey — from first-time writers to seasoned scholars.

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How to Bring More Joy into Your Writing

By Angelica Ribeiro, PhD

Recently, I found myself feeling good after a writing session. Even though I hadn’t completed a project, I was more focused, productive, and creative during that time, which made the experience more enjoyable. It was great to have a writing session that felt better than previous ones. But what made it better? As I reflected on this, I realized it was likely because I had rearranged my office shortly before I began to write. You might wonder, “How does rearranging my office impact my writing?” Let me explain.

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Top Hat Sponsoring 2025 TAA Conference on Textbook & Academic Authoring

A big thank you to Top Hat for sponsoring the 2025 TAA Virtual Conference on Textbook & Academic Authoring at the Bronze level.

Top Hat’s mission is to spark better teaching and learning for a brighter world. Its dynamic courseware helps educators deliver more engaging, relevant and inclusive learning experiences in and outside of the classroom, so all students can succeed. Its extensive catalog of interactive eTexts features titles across all major disciplines, optimized for active learning. With Top Hat Custom Solutions, its experienced team helps you build the exact textbook you need, whether it’s by creating original material, customizing existing content, personalizing OER, or mixing and matching. Their instructional design and project management expertise makes for a smooth process to create interactive course materials that meet your affordability goals and timeline. With unparalleled support, Top Hat is your partner in transforming engagement wherever and whenever learning takes place. Managing Director Donna Battista is a TAA Board Member. 

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AI, Uber-Textbooks, and Knowing Your Own Strengths

By Dave Harris

Is there is a danger that LLMs (or other AI) will create an “uber-textbook” using the work of individual authors, basically stealing the best of all the individual work of scholars for profit, while paying the authors nothing? This question came up in the November 6, 2024 TAA Conversation Circle on royalties, and I wanted to touch on it again, after writing a related piece this past spring.

The previous piece argued (1) that current AI is too limited to do good intellectual work, and, (2) regardless of the capability of AI, that it’s important to take one’s own interests, desires, and personal experience into account because writing and research are personally uplifting positive experiences worth having, even if you’re not necessarily selling your work.

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