Nippan IPS sold books to Anthropic, unaware of AI use

The letter from Nippan Group Holdings to the Japan Book Publishers Association marks the first confirmation from the Japanese side that books moved from a domestic wholesaler to Anthropic. According to the sources, the subsidiary Nippan IPS concluded the deal in November 2024 and continued selling through last December, after asking Anthropic about the purpose of the purchases. Nippan Group says the unit did not know those purchases were for AI learning.

The context for the disclosure is a U.S. lawsuit, in which an internal Anthropic document showed the company had entered into a deal with "Nippan Japan" as part of Project Panama, a effort to scan books from around the world. The association shared the letter with some 380 member publishers, suggesting the industry is treating the matter as one that touches its membership broadly. Nippan Group has not disclosed how many books were sold or the total purchase amount, and says it plans to answer inquiries from publishers.

What happens next likely hinges on how publishers respond to those inquiries and whether they see the sales as consistent with their own permissions. The letter's account — that Nippan IPS asked about purpose but did not know the books were for AI learning — leaves open the question of what the original stated purpose was, and whether that distinction matters to publishers deciding how to proceed.