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

bbc.co.uk

August 15, 2026

4 min read

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46/100

Summary

Secondhand book sales are experiencing a significant increase, with independent booksellers noting unusual bulk orders being shipped to distant warehouses. Stuart Manley from Barter Books reported a recent single order from a Canadian company that matched his typical weekly sales.

Key Takeaways

Secondhand book sales have surged, with independent booksellers reporting unusually large bulk orders, suggesting a potential link to AI's demand for training data.
A US court ruling in 2025 determined that using purchased books to train AI software does not violate copyright law, allowing companies like Anthropic to source books for AI training.
Anthropic's internal project, referred to as "Project Panama," involves destructively scanning books to digitize them at scale, raising concerns about the destruction of physical books.
Experts indicate that the diverse range of books being purchased for AI training may include rare and obscure texts, which could enhance the capabilities of generative AI models.

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Community Sentiment

Mixed

Positives

AI training is driving a resurgence in secondhand book sales, benefiting both bookstores and AI companies—it's a win-win scenario for all involved.
The bulk orders for training materials indicate a healthy market for quality content, showing there's still valuable material to be mined from printed books.

Concerns

There's a growing outrage over AI companies destroying physical books to acquire training data, which many see as an offensive act against cultural heritage.
The legal loopholes allowing the destruction of books for scanning purposes are viewed as morally questionable, raising serious ethical concerns about the future of intellectual property.