The insurer AIG has agreed to settle lawsuits filed by seven women who say the disgraced actor and comedianBill Cosby defamed them when he accused them of lying about sexual misconduct allegations.

Filings on Friday in federal court in Springfield, Massachusetts, show the two sides have negotiated a settlement since Cosby went to prison last fall in a separate Pennsylvania sexual assault case. The 81-year-old comedian is serving a three- to 10-year prison sentence there.

The federal judge overseeing the defamation case in Massachusetts must still approve the settlement. The terms are confidential.

Andrew Wyatt, a spokesperson for Cosby, said on Friday that AIG had chosen to settle the claims without the actor’s “knowledge, permission and/or consent”.

“Mr. Cosby did not settle any cases with anyone. He is not paying anything to anyone, and he is still pursuing his counterclaims,” a statement tweeted from the actor’s account read.

The plaintiffs in the Massachusetts defamation case were among at least 50 women who accused Cosby of sexual misconduct over a span of several decades when he was one of the most successful men in American show business. Cosby has denied the allegations and is appealing against his conviction. He and his wife Camille have a home in Massachusetts. He is also facing civil actions in California.

Cosby was convicted two years ago, in retrial in a Pennsylvania court, of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a former basketball player, and was given a prison sentence. Last October he was denied a new trial.

The case had ended in a mistrial the year before but then became the first significant conviction since the eruption in October 2017 of the #MeToo movement against sexual assault and harassment, following a string of allegations against the former film producer Harvey Weinstein.

The women suing Cosby in Massachusetts for defamation say he defamed them by branding them liars after they went public with allegations of sexual assault. They include Tamara Green, Therese Serignese and Barbara Bowman. Cosby has denied their allegations.

The lawyer Joseph Cammarata, who represents the women, said on Friday afternoon that “each plaintiff is satisfied with the settlement”. He declined to comment further.

However, he warned in a status report also filed on Friday that his clients would seek to depose Cosby and gather other documents and evidence if he does not drop the counter-claims, which accuse the women of harming his reputation through their accusations.

Camille Cosby had been ordered to give a deposition in the case in 2016, after a heated court fight over her testimony.

Lawyers for the Cosbys tried to quash her subpoena to testify, saying she did not have any relevant information on the women’s claims and that any marital conversations she had with her husband of 50 years were confidential.

The judge agreed that marital conversations were private, but the women’s lawyers noted she also served as his business manager throughout their long marriage.

The case had largely been put on hold, though, while the Pennsylvania criminal case ran its course.