Shakespeare v. Anthropic PBC

Summary

Authors and publishers sue Anthropic for training AI models on copyrighted books without permission.

Summary generated by AI from public docket data. Verify against the original filing before relying on it.

Coverage vs reality meter

Press coverage leans plaintiff-favorable; no court ruling has been classified yet.

Cause

17:101 Copyright Infringement

Entities in this case

Parties

Kirk Zurosky (plaintiff) Rebecca Zanetti (plaintiff) David Young (plaintiff) Florence Williams (plaintiff) Ben Westhoff (plaintiff) Patrice Washington (plaintiff) Lemuel (Boo) Walker (plaintiff) Lisa Turner (plaintiff) Brenda L. Thomas (plaintiff) Natalia Sylvester (plaintiff) Kiki Swinson (plaintiff) Empellon Holdings LLC (plaintiff) Alex Stupak (plaintiff) Jordana Rothman (plaintiff) Gene Stone (plaintiff) Jesse Stay (plaintiff) DeForest B. Soaries, Jr. (plaintiff) Benjamin Mann (defendant) Dario Amodei (defendant) Anthropic PBC (defendant)

Docket entries

1. 2026-10-15

   1 - Terminate Hearings AND Case Management Conference - Initial

2. 2026-10-13

   Order

3. 2026-10-05

   Notice of Appearance/Substitution/Change/Withdrawal of Attorney

4. 2026-10-01

   1 - Terminate Hearings AND Clerk's Notice AND ~Util - Set Motion and Deadlines/Hearings

5. #522026-09-29

   NOTICE of Appearance filed by Felipe Corredor on behalf of Dario Amodei, Benjamin Mann (Corredor, Felipe) (Filed on 9/29/2026) (Entered: 09/29/2026)

6. 2026-09-29

   Notice of Appearance/Substitution/Change/Withdrawal of Attorney

7. #502026-09-18

   Joinder

8. #492026-09-18

   Joinder

9. #472026-09-01

   OPPOSITION/RESPONSE (re 45 MOTION for Extension of Time to File Answer re 37 Amended Complaint,,,,,,,, ) filed byTiffany Aliche, Bert Bates, Vince Beiser, Clara Bingham, Susan Bliler, Barbara Marie Bonneau, Cylin Busby, Busby Ross Inc., Nolan Bushnell, Stephen J. Caldas, Anne Canadeo, Scott Carney, Jordi Castells, Matthew Chase, Wahida Clark, Suzanne Cope, Carey Corp, Julie Cross, Ron Currie, Jr, Victoria David, Marcy Dermansky, Jim DiEugenio, Jamie Dutcher, Jim Dutcher, Ginny Dye, Mara Einstein, Empellon Holdings LLC, Jane Esselstyn, Rip Esselstyn, Ben L. Evridge, Karen Siff Exkorn, Nir Eyal, Jon Fine, Isabelle Gallo, Stanley Ginsberg, Charles Glass, Reyna Gobel, David Goodman, Matt Gross, Thomas Guzman-Sanchez, Minal Hajratwala, Brenda Hampton, Donna Barba Higuera, Human Resource Development Press Inc., Buzzy Jackson, Nick Jamilla, K. W. Jeter, Matthew Kenney, Pamela Keogh, Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, Joe Konrath, Margaret Ratner Kunstler, as Executrix of the Estate of William Moses Kunstler, Melissa Landers, Marie Myung-Ok Lee, John Leland, Barron Lerner, Ariel MacArran, Maggie Macnab, Debra Berndt Maldonado, Erin Siegal McIntyre, Karen McQuestion, Glen Merzer, Lorie Moeggenberg, Lindsay S. Nixon, Hannah Nordhaus, Kate O'Hearn, Randal Pinkett, Matteo Pistono, Pamela Popper, Bruce Ratner, as Executor of the Estate of Michael Ratner, Andrew Revkin, Christopher Ricci, Sarah Elizabeth Richards, Rose Books, Inc., Jordana Rothman, Julian Rubinstein, Danny Rust, Allen Salkin, Danielle Santiago-Cofield, Sarah Edmondson Inc., Thomas William Shakespeare, Kathy Sierra, Zachary Sklar, DeForest B. Soaries, Jr, Jesse Stay, Gene Stone, Alex Stupak, Kiki Swinson, Natalia Sylvester, J. Randy Taraborrelli, Brenda L. Thomas, Bruce Tulgan, Lisa Turner, Wahida Clark Presents Publishing LLC, Lemuel (Boo) Walker, Patrice Washington, Ben Westhoff, Florence Williams, David Young, Rebecca Zanetti, Kirk Zurosky. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Michael P. Manapol in Support of Plaintiffs' Opposition to Defendant Benjamin Mann's Motion to Extend Time)(Manapol, Michael) (Filed on 9/1/2026) (Entered: 09/01/2026)

10. #462026-09-01

    NOTICE of Appearance filed by Miranda Kane on behalf of Dario Amodei, Benjamin Mann (Kane, Miranda) (Filed on 9/1/2026) (Entered: 09/01/2026)

11. 2026-09-01

    Notice of Appearance/Substitution/Change/Withdrawal of Attorney

12. #452026-08-28

    Extension of Time to File Answer; Declaration of Grace Yang; Exhibit A; Proposed Order

13. 2026-08-25

    Notice of Appearance/Substitution/Change/Withdrawal of Attorney

14. 2026-08-13

    Notice of Appearance/Substitution/Change/Withdrawal of Attorney

15. 2026-08-05

    1 - Terminate Hearings AND Clerk's Notice AND ~Util - Set Motion and Deadlines/Hearings

16. 2026-07-23

    Notice of Appearance/Substitution/Change/Withdrawal of Attorney

17. #242026-07-07

    No description on file

18. 2026-07-07

    Clerk's Notice

19. 2026-07-07

    Case Assigned/Reassigned

20. #232026-07-02

    Judicial Referral for Purpose of Determining Relationship of Cases re 25-cv-10897-PCP and 26-cv-5931-EKL. Signed by Judge Eumi K. Lee on 7/2/2026. (lrt, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 7/2/2026)

21. #222026-06-30

    No description on file

22. #212026-06-30

    No description on file

23. #202026-06-30

    No description on file

24. #192026-06-25

    No description on file

25. #172026-06-23

    No description on file

26. #142026-06-23

    CONSENT/DECLINATION to Proceed Before a US Magistrate Judge by Tiffany Aliche, Bert Bates, Vince Beiser, Clara Bingham, Susan Bliler, Barbara Marie Bonneau, Cylin Busby, Busby Ross Inc., Nolan Bushnell, Stephen J. Caldas, Anne Canadeo, Scott Carney, Jordi Castells, Wahida Clark, Suzanne Cope, Carey Corp, Julie Cross, Ron Currie, Jr, Victoria David, Marcy Dermansky, Jim DiEugenio, Jamie Dutcher, Jim Dutcher, Ginny Dye, Mara Einstein, Empellon Holdings LLC, Jane Esselstyn, Rip Esselstyn, Ben L. Evridge, Karen Siff Exkorn, Nir Eyal, Jon Fine, Isabelle Gallo, Stanley Ginsberg, Charles Glass, Reyna Gobel, David Goodman, Matt Gross, Thomas Guzman-Sanchez, Minal Hajratwala, Brenda Hampton, Donna Barba Higuera, Human Resource Development Press Inc., Buzzy Jackson, Nick Jamilla, K. W. Jeter, Matthew Kenney, Pamela Keogh, Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, Joe Konrath, Margaret Ratner Kunstler, as Executrix of the Estate of William Moses Kunstler, Melissa Landers, Marie Myung-Ok Lee, John Leland, Barron Lerner, Ariel MacArran, Maggie Macnab, Debra Berndt Maldonado, Erin Siegal McIntyre, Karen McQuestion, Glen Merzer, Lorie Moeggenberg, Lindsay S. Nixon, Hannah Nordhaus, Kate O'Hearn, Randal Pinkett, Matteo Pistono, Pamela Popper, Bruce Ratner, as Executor of the Estate of Michael Ratner, Andrew Revkin, Christopher Ricci, Sarah Elizabeth Richards, Rose Books, Inc., Jordana Rothman, Julian Rubinstein, Danny Rust, Allen Salkin, Danielle Santiago-Cofield, Sarah Edmondson Inc., Thomas William Shakespeare, Kathy Sierra, Zachary Sklar, DeForest B. Soaries, Jr, Jesse Stay, Gene Stone, Alex Stupak, Kiki Swinson, Natalia Sylvester, J. Randy Taraborrelli, Brenda L. Thomas, Lisa Turner, Wahida Clark Presents Publishing LLC, Lemuel (Boo) Walker, Patrice Washington, Ben Westhoff, Florence Williams, David Young, Rebecca Zanetti, Kirk Zurosky.. (Doniger, Stephen) (Filed on 6/23/2026) (Entered: 06/23/2026)

27. 2026-06-23

    Case Referred to Magistrate Judge for Discovery

28. 2026-06-23

    CASE REFERRED to Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen for Discovery (mxg, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 6/23/2026)

29. 2026-06-23

    Clerk's Notice of Impending Reassignment - Text Only

30. 2026-06-23

    Notice of Appearance/Substitution/Change/Withdrawal of Attorney

31. 2026-06-23

    Case Assigned/Reassigned

32. 2026-06-18

    Clerk's Notice

33. 2026-06-18

    Case Assigned/Reassigned

34. 2026-06-18

    Notice of Appearance/Substitution/Change/Withdrawal of Attorney

35. 2026-06-17

    ~Util - Case Assigned by Intake

36. 2026-06-17

    Remark: Report 3 emailed to Copyright Office. (msr, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 6/17/2026)

37. 2026-06-17

    Remark

Docket history from CourtListener/RECAP — most recent first.