Since then, they’ve found a legal loophole they can use to keep ingesting words: bulk-purchasing physical books and scanning them. My artist friend’s answer was “but AI didn’t buy the works to study”. Even if AI bought the copies second-hand, that’s perfectly legal, the same way a human might buy a second-hand copy. AI companies are not going to buy the 1936 version – they’re going to buy the cheapest second-hand copy they can. Back before Amazon, the landscape was dotted with many used book stores, and frequently what didn’t sell got pulped because books are bulky.