Authors awaiting payments from Anthropic’s $1.5 billion copyright settlement are pushing back after receiving notices that other parties were claiming portions of their payouts, according to TechCrunch. The reported disputes center on whether publishers are entitled to share in payments tied to specific books; TechCrunch also reports complaints that some literary agencies are making claims. TechCrunch reports that Anthropic settled a copyright class action last year after a judge ruled that training artificial intelligence models on copyrighted material is legal under fair use, but pirating that material is not. The settlement received final approval in July, clearing the way for payments to proceed. The settlement terms, as described by TechCrunch, cover authors of nearly 500,000 titles and pay $3,000 for each pirated work. If a book remains in print with a traditional publisher, the payment is split evenly between author and publisher. If a book was self-published, or if rights reverted to the author after a publisher allowed the book to go out of print, the author is supposed to receive the full payment. The complaints now surfacing suggest that those distinctions may not be holding cleanly in the claims process. TechCrunch cites Writers Beware’s Victoria Strauss, who said author reports broadly fall into two categories: publishers seeking payment for works where rights have reverted, and publishers seeking the full payout where they would be entitled only to half. The article also cites mystery and thriller author April Henry, who posted that HarperCollins had claimed one of her books even though rights had reverted years earlier. TechCrunch says other authors have described similar notices, though the current record is still based on complaints and posts rather than a full accounting of all claims. Strauss cautioned against assuming intentional misconduct, saying the errors could plausibly reflect poor record-keeping. TechCrunch also cites Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger, who told The New York Times she did not view the situation as a publisher grab and instead pointed to bad records and a confusing settlement process. Some publishers, according to Strauss as reported by TechCrunch, have already said the claims were mistakes and asked Anthropic to fix them. The reported problems may not be limited to publishers. Strauss also said she has received complaints that some literary agencies are making claims on payments. That is notable because, in Strauss’s view as relayed by TechCrunch, agents are not rightsholders in the books they sell. For now, the scope remains uncertain. Strauss described the complaints she has seen as only a limited view into a much larger process, while also saying the volume and repetition of similar errors over two days made the issue look potentially broader than routine administrative glitches. Who benefits: Authors with self-published works or clearly reverted rights benefit if the claims process correctly routes full payments to them. Publishers with valid in-print rights are still entitled to a 50% share under the settlement terms described by TechCrunch. Who's exposed: Authors with older contracts or reverted works may have to monitor and contest claims tied to their books. Publishers and agencies face scrutiny if outdated records or claims described in complaints divert payments from rightsholders.