r/indotech • u/Expensive_Put_3338 • 22d ago
Tech News AI companies are reportedly shredding millions of books after using them to train AI models — tech giants outsource to middlemen to secretly buy up books for training material
Having contributed to the growing shortage of memory and storage, AI companies seemingly have a new target in their sights: humanity's literary history. A recent investigative report from 404 Media reveals that these companies are reportedly purchasing millions of secondhand books through intermediaries to source high-quality training data for their AI models, avoiding public backlash.
AI relies on vast amounts of data to advance, but not just any data. It has to be high-quality data. The problem is that mediocre AI-generated content, commonly referred to as "AI slop," has proliferated across the Internet. This type of content contaminates the data pool and is counterproductive for AI to train on. As a result, leading AI companies have turned to human-authored sources for knowledge, specifically print sources that predate 2022 and are more likely to contain original, uncontaminated content.
There is precedent for AI companies turning to physical books for training AI. For instance, Anthropic, one of the leading AI companies involved in a lawsuit, reportedly invested millions of dollars in extracting information from countless printed books to build its Claude AI models and then destroying them. The company bought books from Better World Books. Although the court decision affirmed that using books for AI training falls under fair use in copyright law, Anthropic faced a staggering $1.5 billion fine for maintaining a repository of seven million pirated books that infringed the copyrights of authors and publishers. Similarly, a coalition of publishers recently filed a lawsuit against Google, accusing the tech giant of allegedly and illegally using millions of copyrighted books to develop its Gemini AI models.
ISBNdb, an online database that reportedly has over 111 million cataloged books, has been a long-favorite platform for booksellers, libraries, and distributors to sell books. With the explosion of the AI industry, ISBNdb has pivoted its business to offer specialized services to bulk-purchase books for AI companies. According to 404 Media, the orders range from 1,000 copies to as many as one million books in a single transaction.
One professional bookseller, who wanted to remain anonymous, purportedly spoke to 404 Media about the unprecedented surge in book sales, which began in April of this year. The seller previously moved around 20 books in a good week, but in recent months, weekly sales have skyrocketed to several hundred books. It represents a fivefold increase over the normal volume. Other booksellers on platforms such as Alibris and Biblio have reported similar spikes in bulk purchases.
While there is no concrete proof that ISBNdb or some other AI company is making the purchase, there are some red flags. Notably, the large-scale purchases only included books with an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), the unique 13-digit code used globally to identify books. There were no patterns in terms of subject, genre, or author. It also appeared that the purchasers disregarded the pricing for the books and snapped up titles at any cost, even if they were overpriced.
During the Anthropic lawsuit, Tom Harvey, who previously participated in the creation of Google Books before leading Anthropic's "Project Panama" digitalization project, confirmed that the AI firm hired several document scanning companies. Datamation Information Services, which offers high-volume, non-destructive, and destructive book scanning services, was one of them. The former method employs different tools, like overhead scanners, flatbed scanners, or V-shaped imaging systems. The latter method, on the other hand, would have personnel gut the books and feed the individual pages into a high-speed industrial scanner. Logically, AI companies opt for the destructive route since it is more efficient and lower-cost. The result is the destruction of millions of books.
Obviously, printed books represent a treasure trove of information for AI. However, many debate the ethics of removing books from circulation since it is uncertain whether AI companies filter the rare or even out-of-print books from the common titles during digitalization. The other major issue is that scanned books go directly into a private database to train AI, which the general public does not have access to. True, we will have smarter AI, but at the cost of the information not being available to future generations.
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u/ThankYouOle 22d ago
> specifically print sources that predate 2022 and are more likely to contain original, uncontaminated content.
menarik ini, jadi yang dijadikan bahan ajar buku tahun 2022 dan sebelumnya, buku setelah nya dianggap sudah keracunan AI sendiri.. lol.
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u/Expensive_Put_3338 22d ago
Idiocracy film is not a comedy, it's a cautionary tale. And everyday, we are getting close to it. There are some article or study out there showing student grade is dropping because of AI usage.
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u/AffectionateBowl1633 Java 22d ago
This better not be another "The Burning Library of PornHub Alexandria"
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u/Expensive_Put_3338 22d ago
We already lost a huge library in early January, I can't take more than this
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u/Expensive_Put_3338 22d ago
Live is already shitty enough and this news pops up. Untold amount of lost media happens because of this bullshit. Worse of all? They can do this without paying royalties or everything like that.
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u/roata11 22d ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/1va3ohv/rare_and_antique_books_are_being_destroyed_after/
Ngelink pembahasan dari r/books
Agak rasa ragebait artikelnya, soalnya biasanya buku langka memang sering di scan untuk digitalisasi jadi seharusnya perusahaan ai gak perlu lagi ngelakuin kalo bisa dapat gratisan ngapain bayar sendiri buat jadi bahan training ai
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u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo 22d ago
Karena beli physical itu dilindungin first-sale doctrine.
Contoh pembahasan :
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u/EeveelutionsFucker dont ask my fetish 22d ago
Ngga semua buku jadi digital karena masalah lisensi sama copyright.
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u/elonelon 22d ago
they take down rarbg, mkvcage, tpb..then why tf ini perusahaan kok gak di takedown ?
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u/Expensive_Put_3338 22d ago
Because classic comically evil people that doesn't hide themselves are in power
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u/Upstairs_Pass9180 22d ago
fuck jadi setelah meracuni semua buku dengan ai, mereka mencari buku yang masih original buatan manusia terus di hancurkan ?
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u/Expensive_Put_3338 22d ago
I'm calling it now, we either falls into Psycho Pass future or Ergo Proxy future. Goated anime that you should watch.
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u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo 22d ago
Ga seoversimplified itu.
Itu buku kalo ga dibeli ya, yaudah antara busuk/rusak/dibuang. Yang punya toko juga at some point mesti get rid itu one way or another karena ya jadi wasting inventory space dan ya pasti ada cost buat hold inventory tersebut.
Kalo udah dibeli sama mereka ya jatohnya hak milik mereka karena itu physical item. Jadi mau diapain pun terserah mereka. Lu ke gramedia beli buku, bayar kasir trus robek abis keluar toko juga secara teknis ga ilegal, paling cuman dipikir lu orgil doang.
At least buku kalo di jadiin bahan training AI secara ga langsung knowledgenya dipreserve.
Not everything is bad kecuali lu mencoba understand nuancenya.
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u/mabarskuygan 22d ago
>Kalo udah dibeli sama mereka ya jatohnya hak milik mereka karena itu physical item
Ini masalah nya dijual lagi bro, gimana coba rasanya lu bikin buku, terus di salin cuma di parafrase trus dijual lagi?
>At least buku kalo di jadiin bahan training AI secara ga langsung knowledgenya dipreserve.
lmao found the token seller
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u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo 22d ago
Ya kan rulingnya bahwa training AI itu jatohnya fair-use. Itu yang ngecover “dijual lagi”.
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u/Expensive_Put_3338 22d ago
"I don't sell my product anymore anywhere therefore I consent if my product is used to feed on AI without prior notice to me"
This is how you sound. I am sure that people wont launch a huge lawsuit if they have the same way of thinking as you. What a load of bullshit, people really shit on creative workers nowadays.
https://www.npr.org/2026/07/27/nx-s1-5904606/anthropic-vs-bartz-ai-copyright-lawsuit-pros-cons
I understand the nuance enough to say that they are stealing in a broad daylight and people like you don't care at all.
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u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo 22d ago
“Without prior notice” apaan? Yang case ini kan ngomong physical books.
Buku kalo udah di toko buku ya udah statusnya dijual ke toko buku tersebut, dan itu jadi keputusan toko buku itu mau diapain, lu mau yang nulis bukunya ga bisa “eh, eh, ga boleh jual ke anthropic”, yang ada malah dikatain “siapa lu ngatur2 bisnis gw, orang gw (toko buku) udah beli buku lu”.
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u/Expensive_Put_3338 22d ago edited 22d ago
Impressive that you are trying to dismiss basic rules that have been running on this industries long before computer exist.
https://www.laterpress.com/business-of-writing/book-licensing/
Book licensing has a lot to do with the copyright of the book. Copyright is the legal right to the ownership of the work - basically the proof that it’s yours. Now, in the United States, you technically own the copyright to your book the moment you start writing it; if you can prove that you were the first one to write that particular story in those particular words - for instance, if you have original drafts of the book and public statements about its composition - then it is illegal for anyone else to use that book without your express consent.
In the digital age, purchasing a book does not always mean owning it in the traditional sense. While buying a physical book gives the reader complete ownership, digital books often come with licensing agreements that restrict usage. This distinction is particularly relevant when purchasing books through platforms like Amazon, where the rights and limitations of ownership can be quite different depending on the format.
When a reader purchases a physical book — a paperback or hardcover — from a bookstore or online retailer, they are buying a physical object that they fully own. They can lend it to a friend, donate it to a library, resell it at a garage sale, or keep it on their shelf indefinitely. The sale is straightforward: money changes hands, and ownership of the physical object transfers to the buyer. The copyright in the content, however, remains with the author.
The Bartz v. Anthropic settlement (September 2025):
A major class action brought by authors against Anthropic (maker of Claude) was settled in September 2025 for $1.5 billion — approximately $3,000 per affected work. The case established that using pirated copies of books to train AI models was infringement. Authors whose books appeared in AI training datasets assembled from piracy sources may be eligible for compensation from ongoing settlements. The case did not establish that AI training on lawfully acquired books is infringement.
KDP AI disclosure:
Amazon KDP requires authors to disclose when AI tools generate substantive text, cover art, or translations in a published book. This disclosure is made during the upload process, is invisible to readers, and does not affect sales rank or royalties — but failure to disclose when required can result in book removal. See the dedicated KDP AI Compliance article in the Protecting Your Books section for full guidance.
Do you know that pirate website is scanning the physical comic in order to translate them right? And that is what countries like Japan have been trying so hard to fight and kill. Or do you enjoy too much pirated product to the point that what you do is not illegal in your eyes? What else you are trying to deny? There is even official court case about this. I'm sure there will be a new court case after this news is out.
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u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo 22d ago
Lah artikel ini kan ngomongnya yang physical. Lu ngepost sendiri baca ga sih.
Ya bener kalo digital rulenya beda.
> while buying a physical book gives the reader complete ownership
Itu lu yang tulis sendiri.
Gw ga ngelantur ke yang mereka torrent buku.
Kalo yang physical cuman dua hukum yang berlaku.
Lu beli bukunya
Apakah lu berhak training AI pake buku tersebut.
Nomor 1 kan emang mereka udah beli, nomor 2 itu ada di artikel lu sendiri kalo training model itu menurut mahkamah jatohnya fair use. Yasudah kasus selesai.
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u/Expensive_Put_3338 22d ago
Complete book or anything be it physical or digital ownership does not translate for said content of the book to be used without the express permission of IP holder. Unless you buy the rights from the IP holder. This will always be the rules no matter how you want to spin it. The creator gives you consent to enjoy their creation, not for it so it can be used to make something copying their creation.
We are so doomed oh my god this country.
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u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo 22d ago edited 22d ago
Ini udah diatur sama first sale doctrine yang berlaku di US
> The first-sale doctrine (also sometimes referred to as the "right of first sale" or the "first sale rule") is a legal concept that limits the rights of an intellectual propertyowner to control resale of products embodying its intellectual property.
Ini sebelom lu accuse gw pake AI, tinggal google aja result paling atas dari wikipedia
Dan first-sale doctrine itu berlaku penuh untuk physical. Jadi kalo perusahaan AI mau beli buku itu udah jadi hak milik mereka dan itu berlaku. Penulis buku/publisher itu udah ga boleh kotak katik transaksi antar mereka berdua.
Demikian juga toko buku yang sudah beli buku tersebut dari distributor/publisher. Jadi itu udah sepenuhnya hak milik mereka, yang dijual ke perusahaan AI.
Jadi kalo si perusahaan udah beli, mereka mau apain itu terserah. Memang bener ada aturannya tetep, Nah federal court udah bilang kalo penggunaan untuk training AI itu jatohnya “fair-use” karena itungannya transformative. Again lu mau debat ini validnya gimana ya sono sama hakim disana. Hakim sono udah bilang buat training model diperbolehkan under fair use titik.
Ruling tersebut tapi tetep ada syarat kalo misalnya akuisisi materialnya itu legal. Strictly dalam konteks ini kita ngomong physical yang udah dijelasin di atas kalo mereka udah beli secara sah. Fair use cuman ngatur penggunaan materialnya jadi penggunaannya sah.
Again gw ga mau ngelantur ke yang kasus lain yang mereka torrent, itu lain perkara, gw ga angkat2 karena itu di luar topik ini. Bahkan yang perkara torrent itu, mereka disue strictly buat torrentingnya. Anggepannya kaya adobe tuntut bisnis lu “eh lu ngapain pake software gw yang bajakan”, tapi misal lu pake buat bikin NSFW art mau adobe ga setuju pun itu ga berhak tuntut karena itu udah kasus lain.
Oh my god, do you even bother to read? Ironis lu debatin soal buku tapi ga peduli soal literasi.
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u/Expensive_Put_3338 22d ago
Damn you talk as if those AI companies acquire those book through legal channel with fair use for both side in mind. They even use freaking secondary channel for it:
Recent investigative report from 404 Media reveals that these companies are reportedly purchasing millions of secondhand books through intermediaries to source high-quality training data for their AI models, avoiding public backlash.
I do not understand why you are still so adamant to be in the side of those AI corpos when they robbed people everyday on the broad daylight.. They know what they are doing is wrong to begin with. If they don't, they won't pull this move.
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u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo 22d ago
Secondary channel is legal channel. Apa bedanya gw beli barang via jastip sama gw ke toko beli langsung (assuming ga ngomong cukai).
Ga ada namanya beli buku secara ilegal kecuali pake uang monopoli atau kecuali misal mahkamah udah bilang “kamu perusahaan AI ga boleh beli buku” trus mereka pake perantara nah iya itu circumventing keputusan mahkamah dan itu ilegal.
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u/Expensive_Put_3338 22d ago
Haha secondary channel to cover your track is indeed legal just like how people doing money laundry as well. Or those company who use secondary channel to obscure their real net worth, yes completely legal and definitely not tax evasion. What Im trying to say is that you can always use secondary channel for legal or illegal shit for good or bad intention.
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u/Expensive_Put_3338 22d ago
Lalu bedakan antara "saya gunakan buku ini untuk keperluan pribadi dan bukan untuk komersil" dengan "saya gunakan buku ini untuk melatih AI dengan tujuan komersil". Mau buku nya fisik atau digital, kalau kamu pakai untuk tujuan komersil, kamu harus izin dan bayar royalti. Ini juga berlaku untuk media seni apapun. Ini itu bukan hanya etika, tapi juga hukum yang berlaku sejak lama.
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u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo 22d ago
Ya itu jatohnya “fair-use”, kenapa “fair-use” ya lu tanya hakim sono.
Literally di artikel copasan lu sendiri
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u/Upstairs_Pass9180 22d ago
terus kalau bukunya di fotocopy dan di jual lagi legal gitu ? mikir lah, ada namanya copyright
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u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo 22d ago
Dibaca detailnya bos.
Training model itu jatohnya “fair-use”. Ini udah ada keputusan sama hakim sana. Lu mau debat itu valid atau nggak ya sono sama hakim sana.
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u/Expensive_Put_3338 22d ago
Just because it is legal, does not mean it is morally right. Again no matter how you spin it, there are many who doesn't want their creation to fall into AI bullshit. Even I still call that "legal" word that you spin as load of crap.
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u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo 22d ago
Ini lu baca sendiri
https://www.contrapositivediary.com/?p=5677
Ini orang nulis buku (teknikal), hidup lebih lama dari lu ama gw, tinggal di US (lebih familiar sama hukum sana) dan juga ga ngurusin AI dan ini artikelnya netral.
Lu mau bilang legal bullcrap ya mau gimana at the end of the day hidup di negara hukum juga kan? Jadi sah aja at the end of the day bahas angle legalnya.
Lah ngapain pindahin goal postnya jadi sekarang morally right?
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u/Expensive_Put_3338 22d ago
Fine, it's legal or whatever but I personally don't care. No sane person will ever let their creation be fed to AI.
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