GoKawiilAI Firms Buy and Scan Used Books to Train Language Models After Court Ruling
AI companies have started purchasing used physical books in bulk to feed data into their large language models. This practice follows a copyright settlement earlier this year in which courts determined that buying books and destroying them during the digitization process for AI training qualifies as fair use.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The ruling gives AI developers a legal pathway to access copyrighted text without licensing agreements with publishers, potentially reshaping how training data is sourced industry-wide. It also raises questions about the used book market, physical media preservation, and whether this workaround undermines the economic incentives copyright law is meant to protect.
- Courts ruled buying and destroying physical books for AI training counts as fair use.
- AI companies are acquiring used books specifically to digitize and destroy them for training data.
- The ruling could set a precedent affecting future copyright disputes over AI training methods.
Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1600 Document Scanner — If AI labs are slicing up used books to digitize them, this is the desktop workhorse that does the scanning part. The ScanSnap iX1600 feeds stacks of loose pages quickly and turns them into searchable digital files, making it a favorite for anyone building a personal paperless library.
See Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1600 Document Scanner on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: fastcompany.com, 2026-09-03
Published there as: “Why are AI companies buying books?”
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