# Korean publishers seek AI book-licensing body after Anthropic piracy

Published: 2026-10-20T12:54:06.954Z · Source: Seoul Economic Daily (https://en.sedaily.com/culture/2026/10/20/publishers-push-copyright-trust-body-to-stop-ai-book-theft)
Source date: 2026-10-20
Entities: anthropic

The Korean Publishers Society, a trade group representing roughly 500 trade-book publishers, issued a public appeal to South Korea's government, National Assembly and AI companies on October 20, calling for a copyright trust body to manage AI licensing and compensation for books, per Seoul Economic Daily. The group wants AI firms to disclose which books trained their models, obtain authors' prior consent, and pay into a standardized licensing system modeled on music-rights collecting societies. The appeal follows reports that Anthropic bought and digitized Korean books, including pirated copies by novelists Han Kang and Kim Ae-ran, for AI training — echoing the piracy claims at the center of Anthropic's $1.5 billion Bartz v. Anthropic settlement in the US.

Why it matters: It shows the Anthropic book-piracy dispute behind the $1.5 billion Bartz settlement in the US is now prompting a non-US industry group to push its own government toward a formal AI-licensing framework for books.

## What this answers

**Is Anthropic being sued over AI training on pirated Korean books?**

Not yet in Korea — the Korean Publishers Society is calling for a government-backed licensing system and disclosure rules rather than filing suit, after reports that Anthropic bought and digitized Korean books, including pirated novels, to train its AI models.

**What do Korean publishers want from AI companies?**

The Korean Publishers Society wants AI firms to disclose which books trained their models, get authors' consent beforehand, and pay into a standardized licensing system similar to how music-collecting societies handle royalties, per Seoul Economic Daily.


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