American Library Asssociation and AI Copyright Class Action
Your Voice on Intellectual Freedom and Public Good
Infophilia, A Positive Psychology of Information | August 23, 2025 - Vol. 3, Issue 53 | Toolbox Updated August 27, 2025, 7:12 am with note about the preliminary settlement
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Cite as: Coleman, Anita S. (2025, August 23). American Library Association and AI copyright class action: your voice on intellectual freedom and public good. Infophilia, a positive psychology of information, 3 (53).
ALA and AI Copyright Class Action
Your Voice on Intellectual Freedom and Public Good
I’m following up on What’s at stake for authors, copyright, and intellectual freedom? and I would love to hear your thoughts on the Bartz v. Anthropic Authors Alliance Amicus Brief.
Why this matters
The American Library Association (ALA) has recently supported Anthropic’s appeal of a copyright class certification. I reached out to three ALA discussion groups: ALA Connect, ACRL-Instruction Section, and ACRL-Artificial Intelligence (AI) Interest Group to gather diverse perspectives. There was no engagement on ACRL-AI, and limited responses on ACRL-Instruction. The conversation on ALA Connect is robust and enlightening. It’s clear that technology policy and AI companies are reshaping our public knowledge commons.
Your insights matter whether you’re a librarian, a citizen, or a consumer.
Protect authors’ rights – giving creators the recognition and compensation they deserve.
Safeguard intellectual freedom – ensuring everyone can access and build on shared knowledge.
Preserve public goods – keeping public goods like libraries, universities, and shared knowledge open, reliable, and beneficial for everyone.
On August 22nd, the Authors Guild (and its stakeholders) filed an amicus curiae brief. Now, we essentially have two groups of authors, Authors Alliance along with ALA siding with Anthropic’s appeal of the Judge’s grant of copyright class certification on one side, and the Authors Guild, opposing Anthropic’s appeal and supporting his grant of copyright class certification. Citations to the amicus briefs of both camps and the class certification order documents are in Notes (below).
Your Participation Counts
Legal cases can feel intimidating but, we shouldn’t let experts alone decide the future of our information commons, especially given the predominant role information technology plays in our lives today. When you share, you help shape policies that protects all of us. Plus, your input will improve the civic infophilia styles we’re fashioning together.
Take the survey
5 - 10 minutes, no right or wrong answers.
All responses are fully anonymous.
I’ve included brief notes on the cases to help you respond thoughtfully.
Thank you for your time and for contributing to this important conversation. I look forward to reading your responses and working together to advance intellectual freedom and public goods.
Warm regards,
Anita
Updated August 28, 2025, 7:12 am with this note about a preliminary settlement: Wired has reported that Bartz v. Anthropic has reached a preliminary settlement out of court, expected to be finalized on September 3. The "historic settlement will benefit all class members." - Justin Nelson, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs. Source: https://www.wired.com/story/anthropic-settles-copyright-lawsuit-authors/
However, the questions for which I'm seeking answers, the role of the American Library Association in copyright and digital content legal cases, remain valid. I invite you to take the quick survey (link is below). Thanks for your time and contributions.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to readers who helped me by testing the survey.
About the image
“Helping answer a check-in questionnaire” is from the Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Questionnaire_0001.jpg#/media/File:Questionnaire_0001.jpg
Notes
Court Documents
Bartz v. Anthropic PBC. (2025, July 17). Order on class certification. Judge Alsup. Case 3:24-cv-05417-WHA. U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.434709/gov.uscourts.cand.434709.244.0_2.pdf (31 pages)
Library Copyright Alliance. (2025, August 7). Brief of Amici Curiae Authors Alliance, Electronic Frontier Foundation. Association of Research Libraries, American Library Association, and Public Knowledge in support of Defendant-Petitioner’s Petition for Permission to Appeal Under Rule 23 (F). U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit Court. (No. 25-4843). https://www.librarycopyrightalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Bartz-v.-Anthropic-Amicus-Brief.pdf (19 pages)
Authors Guild. Brief of the Authors Guild, Inc., International Thriller Writers, Romance Writers of America, and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America D/B/A Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association as Amici Curiae in support of Plaintiffs-Respondents. U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit Court. (No. 25-4843). https://authorsguild.org/app/uploads/2025/08/Anthropic-amicus-brief-August-21-2025.pdf (24 pages)