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Rakuten Kobo Content Policy

While Kobo supports the distribution of a broad range of digital content, Kobo reserves the right to reject any content from distribution through its platform. Without limiting Kobo’s discretion to reject any content, Kobo requires authors, publishers and others that provide digital content for sale on Kobo platforms to comply with the Rakuten Kobo Content Policy.

Prohibited Content

  • Sexual Exploitation: Adult or explicit content depicting acts that are illegal or that Kobo determines to be sexually exploitative are prohibited. This includes material that portrays or contains direct or indirect references to pornography, pedophilia, incest, bestiality, exploitation and sexual violence or force. Kobo may close accounts and report illegal material to the relevant authorities. Content providers must properly identify adult or explicit material in the metadata by providing accurate age ranges and subject codes or by selecting the appropriate content classification in Kobo Writing Life, in which event Kobo may put such mature content behind an interstitial.
  • Hateful or violent content: Content that directly or indirectly promotes hate or threatens violence against individuals or groups based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, and sexual orientation/gender identity is prohibited, as is content about creating, modifying or deploying weapons.
  • Illegal and malicious content: Content that is illegal or that contains viruses, malware, spam or other harmful potential is prohibited. This includes content that uses or promotes cloaking, keyword stuffing, search engine manipulation and doorway or bridges.
  • Private and Confidential Information: Content may not include personally identifiable information about individuals.

Reports of prohibited content can be made by emailing . All reports are reviewed in a timely fashion.

Restricted Content

Kobo reserves the right to reject content:

  • that is in the public domain, or is a derivative work thereof,
  • that is widely available through other public channels or online platforms,
  • that is low quality, incomplete or does not comply with Kobo’s standards,
  • that is wholly or partially created by digital text-generation algorithms,
  • that imitates or is confusingly similar to other services or misleads users,
  • that displays advertising or redirects users to a commercial website, or
  • that contains advertising or links to businesses.

Copyright

Kobo respects copyright and will respond to clear notices of alleged copyright infringement in accordance with its copyright infringement procedures. Copyright owners may file a notice of infringement through the Kobo web site via the Kobo Help Portal contact page, or by email at .

Last updated: October 5th, 2023