TAA Shares Results of Survey Seeking Authors’ Experiences Filing Claims in Bartz v. Anthropic Settlement

Between December 2025 and early January 2026, the Textbook & Academic Authors Association conducted a survey seeking authors’ experiences filing claims in the landmark Bartz v. Anthropic settlement. The majority of respondents 87% (52) said they were educational/textbook authors, 23% (14) said they were university press/academic authors, 8% (5) said they were trade authors, and 3% (2) were unsure which author type they were.

While a majority of respondents to the survey said they had already filed claims (31 of 60), almost the same number of respondents said they had not (29 of 60).

In Response to Motion Filed By TAA, Sage Agrees to Send Email Correcting Earlier Assertions as to Authors’ Share of Settlement Proceeds in Bartz v. Anthropic

On December 22, 2025, the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA) filed a motion to intervene in the Bartz v. Anthropic case, asking for an order to require curative notice and injunctive relief by Sage Publishing after the company sent a misleading email to its authors. In that email, Sage directed its authors to claim a specific percentage of the settlement and asserted that by not doing so, the authors could delay getting their payment. After negotiating with class attorneys and with Sage about sending a curative email that addresses the main concerns detailed by TAA in the motion, TAA agreed to withdraw the motion. Sage authors should receive the curative email this week.

TAA’s motion was filed after TAA Executive Director Kim Pawlak received an email from a TAA member on December 12 forwarding an email the author received from her publisher, Sage.

12/10 TAA Webinar – ‘Bartz v. Anthropic: An Update on the Claims Process for Textbook & Academic Authors’

For those whose works are included in the historic copyright infringement settlement, Bartz v. Anthropic, the official notice with your unique ID should be arriving near the end of November. Join Brenda Ulrich, an attorney with Archstone Law, and TAA Executive Director Kim Pawlak on Wednesday, December 10 from 2-3 p.m. ET, for a special webinar, “Bartz v. Anthropic: An Update on the Claims Process for Textbook & Academic Authors:.” Learn how your unique ID will help you when filing claims, as well as other updates on the claims process and TAA’s recommendations for textbook and academic authors whose works are included in the settlement.

10/8 TAA Webinar: What Textbook & Academic Authors Need to Know About Filing Claims in Bartz v. Anthropic

Educational/textbook and university press/academic authors represent almost half of the close to 500,000 works infringed in the class in Bartz v. Anthropic. While the court approved 50-50 default splits between authors and publishers of trade and university press works, the court approved a separate claims process for determining the split between educational/textbook authors and publishers.

Join TAA Executive Director Kim Pawlak and Intellectual Property Attorney and TAA Board Member Brenda Ulrich on Wednesday, October 8 from 2-3 p.m. ET for an informational meeting about what textbook and academic authors need to know about filing claims in the settlement: “What Textbook & Academic Authors Need to Know About Filing Claims in Bartz v. Anthropic.” Register. Open to members and non-members.

Bartz v. Anthropic Copyright Case – The Claims Process for Textbook & Academic Authors is Unique. Review Our Guidance Before Filing Claims.

Educational/textbook and university press/academic authors represent almost half of the close to 500,000 works infringed in Bartz v. Anthropic. For more on that decision and TAA’s role, click here.

TAA will be rolling out more guidance for textbook and academic authors in the days and weeks to come. First up is a webinar on October 8, from 2-3 p.m. ET, “What Textbook & Academic Authors Need to Know About Filing Claims in Bartz v. Anthropic.” It is open to members and non-members, so spread the word.

The claims period runs from now until March 23, 2026. It is not a “first come first served” situation, so take the time to do it right and ensure your best chance of a good recovery. Learn more about how to get started.

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: