Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

The concept itself is not illegal, but each individual "borrowing" of material someone else wrote is a possible copyright violation. Just because a passage isn't registered with the trademark office and bearing a circle-C copyright symbol doesn't mean the author has no rights in it. So, I'd say you would be taking risks in preparing and marketing such a book. As to your location, I would say this may afford you some minimal degree of protection against lawsuits. They would be more expensive to initiate and prosecute. However, enforcement could also occur by seizure of shipments of the books, etc., and even if it is distributed only as an on-line item, the enforcement could be against your Web site. All in all, I suggest having a detailed review of your idea, including samples of material to be used, made by an attorney experienced in U.S. or international copyright law.