EWC accuses AI firms of shredding rare books after scanning them
The EU Commission says digitising physical books requires rightsholder permission, since text-and-data-mining exceptions cover only digital-born works
Here's the part that should stop you cold: this isn't about pirated ebooks anymore, it's about someone buying a physical, out-of-print copy of a European author's book, slicing off the spine, scanning it, and turning what's left into toilet paper. Once that copy is gone, it's gone — the only surviving version lives inside a private AI company's training set. The EWC's strongest card isn't outrage, it's the European Commission's own words from September 16: digitising a lawfully-owned physical book still requires the rightsholder's authorization, because the text-and-data-mining exception only covers things that were already digital. That's a legal opening, not a settled case, so treat this as one to watch, not one to bank on yet.
Why it matters to you: If your out-of-print or rare title exists only in physical form, an EU legal opinion now says scanning it without your permission may be unlawful — worth knowing if you ever find a copy of your book missing from the secondhand market.
This story ran in the Coral Wire edition of Sat, Sep 26 2026, when the Coral Index stood at 62/100 (Tailwinds building).
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