Legal analysis: if individuals buy pirated books and read them themselves, from the perspective of civil liability, this situation is not infringement, so it can be said that it is not illegal. Buying is an act of contact, reading is an act of enjoyment, and copying and distribution is an act of use. The copyright law only regulates the use of works, and contact and enjoyment are not controlled by copyright. Other laws do not regulate this behavior, so it is not illegal to buy pirated books. But selling pirated books is illegal.

Legal basis: Article 217 of the Criminal Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) infringes copyright or copyright-related rights for the purpose of making profits, and the amount of illegal income is relatively large or there are other serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years and shall also or only be fined; If the amount of illegal income is huge or there are other particularly serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years and shall also be fined:

(1) Reproduction, distribution and dissemination of written works, music, fine arts, audio-visual works, computer software and other works prescribed by laws and administrative regulations to the public without the permission of the copyright owner;

(2) Publishing books with exclusive publishing rights enjoyed by others;

(3) Reproduction, distribution and dissemination of audio and video products made by the producer to the public through the information network without the permission of the producer;

(4) Reproduction and distribution of audio and video products of their performances without the permission of performers, or dissemination of their performances to the public through information networks;

(five) the production and sale of counterfeit works of art;

(6) Technical measures taken to intentionally avoid or destroy the copyright to protect the copyright or copyright-related rights of his works, audio-visual products, etc. Without the permission of the copyright owner or the copyright-related obligee.