Anthropic’s proposed $1.5 billion copyright settlement faced pushback from Judge William Alsup, according to Bloomberg Law. Alsup denied preliminary approval and said the deal was “nowhere close to complete.” The judge expressed concern that class counsel misled the court and may force terms “down the throat of authors.” He criticized attorneys for leaving critical details unresolved, including the claims process, class notice, and a final list of covered works, which currently numbers around 465,000. Alsup warned that class members “get the shaft” in many settlements and stressed that authors must have a fair chance to opt in or out. The $1.5 billion settlement would resolve authors’ claims over pirated books and set a $3,000-per-book benchmark for future AI copyright disputes against companies like OpenAI, Meta, and Midjourney.