Author April Henry and others have described publishers claiming rights to books whose rights reverted years earlier, while writer and blogger Victoria Strauss said she has received numerous complaints involving both improper full-rights claims and incorrect 100% payment requests. Strauss said the pattern of repeated, identical errors suggests a systemic issue rather than isolated mistakes, though she noted some publishers have already asked Anthropic to correct the errors.
Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger said she does not believe publishers are deliberately trying to shortchange authors, attributing the issue instead to poor recordkeeping and a confusing settlement process. Author Courtney Milanseparately criticized reports of literary agencies attempting to claim settlement funds, noting agents hold no rights to the underlying works. Guidance on disputing incorrect claims has since been shared by Milan and the Authors Guild.
