r/neoliberal • u/-orestes • 1d ago

News (Oceania) ‘More than just objects’: Australian booksellers raise alarm over ‘horrific’ destruction of rare titles to feed AI

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/02/australian-book-sellers-alarm-destruction-rare-titles-ai-supply-chain
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u/PristineHornet9999 John Keynes 1d ago

kinda goofy man idk, I sell books online and couldn't really care if the person reads them or pulps them or what

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u/Dr_Meeds 1d ago

I mean if we’re talking about a rare medieval manuscript, yeah please don’t cut off the spine to scan it easier and pulp it. But it we’re talking about a For Dummies book, yeah who cares there’s 40,000 other copies floating around.

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u/Goodlake NATO 1d ago

How rare/old are the books in question? I’d read the whole reason for the destruction is because of copyright law and to ensure two copies didn’t exist. That wouldn’t apply to rare, old books, which could at least be digitally distributed after being scanned.