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Yes, I've seen that notice in many paperbacks. It is of very doubtful legality I think. Many publishers do not take unsold "returns" as it is too costly to ship the books back, so the retailers just strip off the covers and return them, tossing the rest in the dumpster.
Such books have been abandoned by both the publisher and retailer. They are certainly not stolen if you rescue them from the dumpster. Disclaimer: I don't have any, because I like books with covers.
The same applies I think in some places to daily newspapers, where the retailer just tears off the mastheads, and tosses the rest in the skip out back (or maybe gives them to the fish and chip shop).
The "returns" thing is a bit of a racket, really. What other wholesale business takes back its unsold goods? Does BMW take back any unsold last-year models and run them through the crusher? Nope: the dealer flogs them off at a discount and takes it on the chin. Why not the same with books? Beats me.
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