It might be that bad. Most ‘damage’ (as publishers see it) comes from distribution, not the download itself. Depending on how they acquired the books, it might be not be much of a problem.
As a civil matter, the publishing houses are more likely to get the full money if anthropic stays in business (and does well). So it might be bad, but I’m really skeptical about bankruptcy (and I’m not hearing anyone seriously floating it?)
I also read through the judgement, and I think it’s better for anthropic than you describe. He distinguishes three issues:
A) Use any written material they get their hands on to train the model (and the resulting model doesn’t just reproduce the works).
B) Buy a single copy of a print book, scan it, and retain the digital copy for a company library (for all sorts of future purposes).
C) Pirate a book and retain that copy for a company library (for all sorts of future purposes).
A and B were fair use by summary judgement. Meaning this judge thinks it’s clear cut in anthropics favor. C will go to trial.
C could still bankrupt the company depending on how trial goes. They pirated a lot of books.
It might be that bad. Most ‘damage’ (as publishers see it) comes from distribution, not the download itself. Depending on how they acquired the books, it might be not be much of a problem.
As a civil matter, the publishing houses are more likely to get the full money if anthropic stays in business (and does well). So it might be bad, but I’m really skeptical about bankruptcy (and I’m not hearing anyone seriously floating it?)
Depending on the type of bankruptcy, the business can still operate, all their profits would just be going towards paying off their depts.