Anthropic Unauthorized Use of Korean Authors' Works for AI Training

U.S. AI company settles $1.5B lawsuit; 21 Korean works eligible for compensation

U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic has been found to have used works by Korean authors including Han Kang and Hwang Sok-yong for training its AI chatbot 'Claude' without authorization.

On October 17, the Literature Translation Institute of Korea confirmed 21 works by Korean authors in the list of books eligible for compensation published on the settlement website related to the copyright infringement lawsuit against Anthropic and notified the authors.

Anthropic became entangled in a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. over allegations that it used illegally downloaded books without copyright holders' permission to train its AI model. The lawsuit concluded in July of this year after Anthropic agreed to pay a total settlement of 1.5 billion dollars (approximately 2 trillion Korean won).

The eligible books for compensation amount to approximately 500,000 titles, with each work receiving around 3,000 dollars (approximately 4.35 million Korean won). Domestic authors can also receive compensation if they participate in the claims process.

Korean authors whose works are included in the compensation list are Kim Ae-ran's My Brilliant Life, Kim Young-ha's Empire of Light and three others, Kim Soom's One Person, Shin Kyung-sook's Please Look After Mom and two others, Han Kang's Human Acts and two others, Hwang Sun-mi's The Hen Who Left the Yard, and Hwang Sok-yong's Guest.

A source from the Literature Translation Institute of Korea stated, "We will actively support legal measures if necessary, cooperating with copyright-related institutions to ensure authors receive fair compensation."

Meanwhile, as overseas AI companies have shown movements to mass-purchase books presumed for AI training, voices demanding copyright protection and fair compensation are growing louder in the publishing industry.

The Korean Publishers Association released a statement the previous day, urging AI companies to transparently disclose information about their use of copyrighted works and provide fair compensation.

The Korean Publishers Association emphasized, "Without books, there is no AI," adding, "Those who created the books do not even know when, how, or which AI their works are being used in." It further criticized, "Without knowing, they cannot ask questions, refuse, or demand fair compensation."