Frustrated by the lack of any useful information from the Anthropic settlement administrator, I sent the following email on October 9:
I am a class member in Bartz v. Anthropic PBC (claim #).
You show the following two works as works without any disagreement, which I agree with:
Copyright ID title of work
I am writing [about] the books that you still show in disagreement.
Seven of my works are listed as in disagreement among claimants even though the claimants (I and my publisher) agree on the allocation, and both have indicated so.
Copyright ID title of work date(s) of successful allocation adjustment submissions
In addition, I believe the following works are also without disagreement after updates by the publisher and other actors, but since I don’t have any view into the allocation reconciliation process, you’re not providing an updates on the progress, and multiple actors are involved, I can’t confirm the status:
Copyright ID title of work date(s) of successful allocation adjustment submissions
Because the first distribution is scheduled for on or before November 15, 2026, for works with agreed allocations and complete payment information, I am concerned that these works will be left out. I would appreciate answers to the following by 10/16/26:
1. Can you confirm that the allocations I submitted are consistent with the other claimants’ for each work above, and correct the status of each work?
2. If any work will not be corrected in time, what is the specific reason, and what is the earliest date it will be paid?
3. Will I receive written confirmation when each status changes?
My payment information is complete. I have copies of each submission, noting the success of the submission, including one completed by your own personnel. I have received an email back from the system administrator that my updates have been successfully recorded.
I would prefer to resolve this directly. If I do not receive a response by 10/16/26, I may ask the Court for a status conference or a short report on works in this situation, and I will include this correspondence with that request.
Thank you for your help.
I received a reply from the CEO of JNDL, Jennifer M. Keough, three days later. It provided everything I asked for, which finally gave me insight into what exactly was happening with the books.
I forwarded the email to my publisher, who was also happy to get the information because evidently, they also have little insight into what was happening with the books.
I was not bluffing on filing a motion in court. I already had the court document drafted, I’ve had a PACER account for years, I know how to get permission to file a document in the Northern District of California—one of the federal courts that allows non-lawyers to file using the PACER front end—and I was comfortable both with the type of motion to file, and the court’s continuing jurisdiction over the case allowing the judge to respond.
None of this should have been necessary. The inability to see what’s happening with the records after making adjustments, the lack of transparency to see what was happening with the other claimants, and no updates to the allocation adjustment web pages combined to unnecessarily stress people AND add to confusion about what was still needed to move books with disagreements to agreements.
This is supposed to be a ‘meet and confer’ time, with no contact information provided for all the claimants, and no insight into any adjustments they have made. Rather than ‘meet and confer’, it’s become more ‘throw something at it and hope it sticks’.
In my case, I did find that my allocation updates were applied, my publisher concurred, and several books did move from disagreement to agreement, though the allocation page still shows most of the books in disagreement. The few still in disagreement will likely have to be handled by the publisher producing original contracts—including the one where some bizarre leftfield publisher called ‘Forgotten Books’ has claimed to be a publisher on my book.
So, take heart fellow authors. Even though the Anthropic settlement allocation updates page never updates, something is happening in the background to move at least some of the books.
Ms. Keough also noted that at the end of 60 days, all rights holders will receive an email listing books that are in agreement, and the percentage the individual will get for the books. These will form the basis of the first funds distribution in November.
My suggestion to her back was to provide detailed information for each book still in disagreement: what each claimant is stating or what additional information is needed, what the next steps are, and how will next distributions be handled. In addition, I also suggested to her that it would be effective to note that payments for books meeting a later payout should be slightly higher, to account for interest on funds still held in the settlement account.