# Secondhand book sales are booming. Is it because of AI?

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/secondhand-book-sales-are-booming-is-it-because-of-ai/
- Published: 2026-08-15T11:25:32+00:00
- Updated: 2026-08-15T11:50:25+00:00
- Original publisher: BBC Technology (publisher lean: Centre)
- Original article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3rprx2wl4o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
- Topics: AI, Americas, Entertainment, Technology, World

## Key points

- Unusual bulk purchases may be supplying books for AI training.
- Some purchased books could be dismantled and scanned.
- UK copyright rules are stricter than the US approach.

## Summary

Independent second-hand booksellers are reporting unusually large bulk orders, prompting suspicion that the books are being bought to train artificial intelligence systems rather than for readers. The trend matters because some books may be digitised through “destructive scanning”, where their spines are removed and pages scanned before the remains are recycled.

The speculation follows a 2025 US ruling that Anthropic’s use of legally purchased books for AI training did not breach copyright, with court documents later revealing its “Project Panama” aimed to scan books at industrial scale. Barter Books in Northumberland received one Canadian bulk order equivalent to a week’s normal sales, while other sellers have seen similarly unexplained purchases of varied titles, from Latin texts to cowboy novels. Experts say such diversity could be valuable for AI training, although UK copyright law generally requires permission from rights holders for copying and training.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.