On August 18, one day before the appeal window closed, Edelson PC and Oppenheim + Zebrak — the settlement's "Publishers' Coordination Counsel" — filed a notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit, objecting to the settlement
Update, September 15, 2026: a second fee appeal was filed on August 19 (Dkt. 683, alongside Dkt. 682 on August 18). In a status report filed September 2, 2026 (Dkt. 688), class counsel told the court that the first distribution is expected to be sent to class members on or before November 15, 2026. The Settlement Agreement excludes an appeal taken solely as to the Fee Award from the Effective Date (§ 1.15(b)) and says such an appeal does not delay it (§ 8.4). An objector's request to appeal or to join the appeals, filed August 31 (Dkt. 687), is still unresolved; unlike a fee-only appeal it would not fall within the Effective Date carve-out, so if it is granted the distribution could be postponed indefinitely. The analysis below is as written on August 19, 2026.
On July 20, 2026, the court approved the largest copyright settlement in U.S. history: a $1.5 billion, non-reversionary fund, offering approximately $3,000 per work for 482,460 titles that Anthropic used to train its LLMs without authorization.
Then, on August 18, one day before the appeal window closed, Edelson PC and Oppenheim + Zebrak (Publishers' Coordination Counsel) filed a notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit (dkt. 682) objecting to the Bartz v. Anthropic settlement and throwing a wrench in the process.
Claimants were expecting payments to start flowing later this year to the tune of approximately $3,000 per work for 482,460 titles that Anthropic used to train its LLMs without authorization. A historic rate of claimants filed timely claims: 440,490 works (\~92% of the class) are eligible to collect a check.
The appeal is likely to revolve around attorneys fees, which were already a flashpoint in the case. The court declined to approve a percentage-based fee award to class counsel as a windfall and ran the lodestar instead, approving $101,561,111 in fees (a 3.75x multiplier on a $27.08 million lodestar) over the $187.5 million requested (an amount that class counsel had already trimmed from its $300 million opening ask). Service awards for class representatives were also cut from $50,000 to $15,000. Under the approval order, the appellants are entitled to nothing.
Earlier in the case, the court rejected the idea that certain publishers should get a premium recovery relative to other class members by having their individual legal fees paid, and bristled at the appellants' request for a $75 million award (an 11x+ multiplier on their fees). Other firms, it explained, simply cannot show up and demand to get paid.
The Settlement Agreement was structured to prevent fee-related appeals from delaying payments to claim holders — § 1.15(b) excludes appeals taken solely as to the Fee Award from the Effective Date, and § 8.4 says a fee appeal shall not delay finality — but Publishers' Coordination Counsel appeals the Judgment itself "including all prior orders encompassed in that decision," and only says the firms intend to focus on fees. Whether the appeal is covered by the "Fee Award" carve-out is itself likely to be contested. The appealing firms have every incentive to push it outside the carve out. They have little to lose and much to gain in terms of settlement leverage by causing a delay.
The money will be there for creators when the dust settles. When the settlement starts paying out is another question.
Turnpage buys these claims from authors and publishers who would rather have a fixed amount now than wait for the settlement's schedule: a claimant converts a contingent recovery into cash and hands over the risk of delay and of any reduction in the ultimate settlement amount. Selling is optional — claimants who filed valid claims are paid by the Settlement Administrator at no cost — and a sale is permanent.
To check your eligibility and get a quote, visit turnpagedigital.com/copyright.
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