No, CDs with a slice out of the spine, or a hole though it, are the CD equivalent of cut-out records, which are effectively the same thing as remaindered books. That is, ones that have been returned to the publisher for a refund and are then sent back out to resellers at a discount.

Books that have had the cover removed are also books that have been returned to the publisher as unsold for a refund. Publishers aren't interested in having the whole book shipped back to them when the books are mass-market paperbacks (which are most of the smaller common paperbacks you see), so they just get the resellers to send back the cover and trust them to throw away the rest of the book. In practice, many of those stripped books go home with the bookseller employees. Magazines are often treated the same way. And this has been going on for at least 25 years, probably longer, so it's not a new thing. I know I've seen the notice in books for at least the last 15.