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

The recent surge in secondhand book sales may be linked to AI training, following a 2025 US court ruling. Judge William Alsup ruled that using books purchased for AI training was not a violation of US copyright law, describing Anthropic's use as 'exceedingly transformative.' The ruling came from a lawsuit filed by three authors against the AI firm.

Unsealed court documents revealed an internal project called 'Project Panama,' which aimed to 'destructively scan all the books in the world.' Destructive scanning involves shipping books to facilities where spines are removed for rapid industrial-scale digitization, with the remains recycled. Anthropic's spokesperson confirmed that books are a common training source across the industry, but denied buying or destroying rare or antiquarian books.

Booksellers have noticed unusual sales patterns. David Tobin of Walden Books in north London reported selling titles that had not moved for years, but expressed sadness if they were ultimately destroyed. Manley of Barter Books said the project's reality has been discussed on bookseller forums, even though the name 'Project Panama' was new. Sales appear random, ranging from obscure Latin texts to cowboy novels, with 'no rhyme or reason.' Experts say the diverse subject matter suggests AI firms are seeking rare texts to provide fresh material for improving large language models.

In the UK, copyright law differs significantly. Professor Emily Hudson of Oxford University noted that 'the starting point in the UK is that all these acts of copying – creating the training library and doing the training – require the permission of the copyright owner.' The situation poses a dilemma for booksellers: they are uncomfortable with books being destroyed, even if they acknowledge not every title needs to be preserved.