AI & Copyright: A US judge approved a $1.5B settlement tied to Anthropic using books to train Claude, with reports framing it as a major test for how publishers and authors get paid in the AI era. Publishing & Rights: UK publishers are also in the mix after Bloomsbury was reported to be in line for a payout from an AI copyright settlement. Book Culture & Events: The Pioneer Valley Bookstore Crawl returns with a bigger lineup of independent shops and a passport-style scavenger hunt running through August, while Ipswich Book Festival announces a Schools Week and a packed October programme. Author Spotlight: Salman Rushdie testified again in Hadi Matar’s terrorism trial, recounting the stabbing that left him blind in one eye. Community Libraries: Pawlet Public Library trustees moved to hire a new director after a long-running dispute, with a book sale planning update in the same meeting. Reading Tech: Best Buy’s “Black Friday in July” promo puts the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft on sale, pitching it as a premium e-reader for reading and note-taking.