Coalition Letter to FTC on AI Companies Mass Destroying Books (2026)
From a colleague in the access-to-information space… “As viral posts on social media recently flagged, leading AI companies are engaging in a “hoard-and-destroy” strategy of mass acquiring physical books, scanning them for AI training data, and then destroying the hard copies.
In light of the alarm and outrage triggered by this practice — including the profound concerns it raises about the resulting threats to democracy — we’ve crafted a letter to the Federal Trade Commission asking the agency to open an investigation. Our request is carefully crafted to appeal to the two Republican Commissioners and grounded in conventional antitrust theory. It also avoids the risks of trying to open up copyright law. via Patrice McDermott, Director Government Information Watch Pmcdermott @ govinfowatch. net
- Here’s the letter text
- Here’s the sign-on webform The sign-on deadline is COB next Wednesday, August 12, 2026.Please join this sign-on letter asking the Federal Trade Commission to open an investigation into the practice of AI companies mass buying books, scanning them for AI training data, and destroying the hard copy, leaving the company’s internal digital copy as potentially the only surviving version of the source work. The letter text and list of current signatories is here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HaJe4DH-PRQC36EDEF4Sovc7wLT-zM1KZccUguvyKYg/