Data License
How MangaBaka data is licensed (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), third-party data attribution, and API usage terms.
Last Updated: 2026-03-24
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## TL;DR
- **DO** use MangaBaka data in personal, non-commercial, and open-source projects with attribution.
- **DO** check the `source` field in API responses. MangaBaka data and third-party data have different rules.
- **DO** use the database download for bulk/full datasets instead of crawling the API.
- **DO NOT** use MangaBaka data for commercial purposes without a commercial license. See our [pricing page](/about/pricing) for a simple pay-what-you-want model.
- **DO NOT** use MangaBaka data to train AI/ML models for commercial purposes without a Partner agreement. Personal tinkering and research is fine.
- **DO NOT** bulk-harvest data via the API, or present MangaBaka data as your own.
- **Third-party sources** we integrate with (AniList, MAL, etc.) may use MangaBaka data commercially if under $10,000/mo revenue.
_This summary is for convenience only. The full terms below are legally binding._
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## 1. Introduction
These terms govern your access to and use of all data provided by MangaBaka, whether obtained through the API, database downloads, or any other means ("Licensed Content"). By accessing MangaBaka data, you agree to be bound by these terms. If you do not agree, you must not use the API or download the database.
MangaBaka aggregates metadata from multiple sources to provide a unified manga information service. Licensed Content includes both original data created by or contributed to MangaBaka, and data originating from third-party metadata providers. These two categories of data are subject to different rights and obligations, as described below.
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## 2. Definitions
**"MangaBaka Data"** means original data created by or contributed to MangaBaka by its team and community. This includes: user-generated tags, library entries, reading lists, relationships between works, content ratings, recommendations, curated metadata, normalized identifiers, editorial annotations, and any other data that does not originate from a Third-Party Provider.
**"Third-Party Data"** means data originating from external metadata providers ("Third-Party Providers"), including: AniList, MyAnimeList, MangaUpdates, Kitsu, Shikimori, and Anime-Planet. Third-Party Data includes: synopses, cover images, titles, publication dates, author and artist credits, and external identifiers sourced from these providers.
**"Licensed Content"** means all data provided by MangaBaka, whether through the API, database downloads, or any other means, comprising both MangaBaka Data and Third-Party Data.
**"You"** means the individual or entity accessing Licensed Content through any means.
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## 3. License for MangaBaka Data
MangaBaka Data is licensed under the **Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License** ([CC BY-NC-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)).
Under this license, you are free to:
- **Share** — copy and redistribute MangaBaka Data in any medium or format.
- **Adapt** — remix, transform, and build upon MangaBaka Data.
Subject to the following conditions:
- **Attribution** — You must give appropriate credit to MangaBaka, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests MangaBaka endorses you or your use.
- **NonCommercial** — You may not use MangaBaka Data for commercial purposes. Commercial purposes include, but are not limited to: selling or licensing access to the data, incorporating the data into a product or service offered for monetary compensation, using the data to generate revenue through advertising, or using the data to train, fine-tune, or evaluate machine learning models that are developed for or deployed in commercial products or services.
- **ShareAlike** — If you remix, transform, or build upon MangaBaka Data, you must distribute your contributions under the same CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license or a compatible license. You may not apply additional legal terms or technological measures that restrict others from exercising the rights this license grants.
The full legal text of CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 is available at <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode> and governs in the event of any conflict with this summary.
### 3.1 Reciprocal Use by Third-Party Providers
Notwithstanding the NonCommercial restriction above, Third-Party Providers whose data is integrated into MangaBaka (as listed in Section 7) are granted a limited, non-exclusive license to use MangaBaka Data for commercial purposes, provided their gross revenue from all sources does not exceed $10,000 USD per month. This reciprocal license is offered in recognition of the mutual benefit of data exchange between community-oriented metadata services. Third-Party Providers whose revenue exceeds this threshold must obtain a separate commercial license from MangaBaka.
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## 4. Third-Party Data
MangaBaka does not hold redistribution or sublicensing rights for Third-Party Data. Accordingly, **no license is granted to you** to redistribute, sublicense, relicense, or commercially exploit Third-Party Data obtained through the MangaBaka API or database downloads.
Third-Party Data is made available through the MangaBaka API and database downloads solely for your convenience and for personal, non-commercial use in the context of interacting with MangaBaka services. This provision does not constitute a grant of rights by, or on behalf of, any Third-Party Provider.
If you wish to redistribute, republish, store, or otherwise use Third-Party Data outside of your personal interaction with MangaBaka, you are solely responsible for obtaining the necessary rights or permissions from the relevant Third-Party Provider and for complying with that provider's terms of service.
MangaBaka makes no representation or warranty that Third-Party Data may be freely used, copied, redistributed, or incorporated into other works. You assume all legal risk associated with any use of Third-Party Data beyond personal, non-commercial interaction with MangaBaka.
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## 5. Identifying Data Origin
Third-Party Data is clearly separated from MangaBaka Data in all formats:
- **JSON API and JSON/JSONL database downloads:** Third-Party Data is nested under the `source` root key (e.g., `source.anilist`, `source.my_anime_list`). All fields outside of `source` are MangaBaka Data.
- **SQLite database downloads:** Third-Party Data fields use the `source_` prefix (e.g., `source_anilist_id`, `source_my_anime_list_id`). All fields without the `source_` prefix are MangaBaka Data.
You are expected to use this provenance information to determine which terms apply to the data you consume.
Where provenance metadata is absent, ambiguous, or unavailable, you must treat the data as Third-Party Data and apply the most restrictive applicable terms, unless you can independently verify its origin.
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## 6. Acceptable Use
All use of the MangaBaka API and database downloads, regardless of data origin, is subject to the following conditions:
### 6.1 Rate Limiting
You must respect the rate limits published in the MangaBaka API documentation. Requests exceeding these limits may be throttled or rejected. Persistent or deliberate abuse of rate limits may result in temporary or permanent suspension of API access.
### 6.2 No Bulk Harvesting via API
You may not systematically download the entirety or a substantial portion of Licensed Content via the API. Reasonable caching for performance purposes is permitted, provided cached data is refreshed regularly and not redistributed. If you need a full or substantial dataset, use the [database download](/database) instead.
### 6.3 No Misrepresentation
You may not present Licensed Content as your own original work. You may not remove, obscure, or alter provenance metadata, attribution notices, or source identifiers included in Licensed Content.
### 6.4 No Circumvention
You may not use technical means to circumvent rate limits, access controls, authentication requirements, or other restrictions placed on the MangaBaka API.
### 6.5 Attribution Display
Applications, websites, or services that display data obtained from the MangaBaka API or database downloads must include a visible attribution to MangaBaka. Where Third-Party Data is displayed, you should also attribute the relevant Third-Party Provider following that provider's requirements.
### 6.6 Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
Using MangaBaka Data or Third-Party Data, regardless of how it was obtained, to train, fine-tune, evaluate, or otherwise develop machine learning or artificial intelligence models **for commercial purposes** is considered commercial use for the purposes of these terms. This includes models that are directly or indirectly incorporated into commercial products or services. Such use requires prior written agreement from MangaBaka and, where Third-Party Data is involved, from the relevant Third-Party Provider(s).
Personal experimentation, academic research, and non-commercial tinkering with ML/AI models using MangaBaka Data is permitted under the standard CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license, provided the resulting models or outputs are not used in or distributed as part of a commercial offering.
### 6.7 No Unlawful Use
You may not use the MangaBaka API, database downloads, or Licensed Content for any purpose that is unlawful under applicable local, national, or international law.
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## 7. Third-Party Provider Terms
You are responsible for reviewing and complying with the terms of service and acceptable use policies of each Third-Party Provider whose data you access through the MangaBaka API or database downloads. Current links to these terms are provided below for your convenience. These links may change; you are responsible for locating the current terms.
| Provider | Terms |
| ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| AniList | [Terms of Use](https://docs.anilist.co/guide/terms-of-use) |
| MyAnimeList | [Terms of Use](https://myanimelist.net/about/terms_of_use) |
| MangaUpdates | [Acceptable Use Policy](https://api.mangaupdates.com/#section/Acceptable-Use-Policy) |
| Kitsu | [Terms and Conditions](https://kitsu.app/terms) |
| Shikimori | [API Documentation](https://shikimori.one/api/doc) |
| Anime-Planet | [Terms of Use](https://www.anime-planet.com/about/terms) |
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## 8. Right to Deny Access
MangaBaka reserves the right to deny, restrict, or revoke access to the API, database downloads, and any other MangaBaka services for any individual, organization, or project, at any time, with or without notice, and for any reason. This includes but is not limited to:
- Violation of these terms or any other MangaBaka policy.
- Conduct that is hostile, harmful, or disruptive to the MangaBaka community or project.
- Excessive load on MangaBaka infrastructure.
- Legal requirements or risk mitigation.
MangaBaka has no obligation to provide access to any party. Denial of access applies to all future data. It does not retroactively revoke the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license for data lawfully obtained prior to denial.
Attempts to circumvent access restrictions (such as using proxies, alternate accounts, or third parties acting on your behalf) constitute a violation of these terms.
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## 9. Suspension and Termination
MangaBaka reserves the right to suspend or terminate your access at any time, with or without notice, for any reason, including the reasons listed in Section 8.
Upon termination of your access, you must cease all use of Licensed Content obtained after the date of termination. Licensed Content lawfully obtained prior to termination remains subject to the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license under which it was originally provided.
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## 10. Disclaimer of Warranties
Licensed Content is provided **"as is"** and **"as available"** without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of accuracy, completeness, timeliness, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.
MangaBaka does not guarantee that Licensed Content is accurate, complete, current, or free of errors, whether such content is MangaBaka Data or Third-Party Data.
MangaBaka does not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free availability of the API.
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## 11. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, MangaBaka will not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of or related to your use of or inability to use the MangaBaka API, database downloads, or Licensed Content, regardless of the theory of liability.
This limitation applies to, but is not limited to: claims arising from inaccurate or incomplete data, loss of data, unauthorized access to your systems or data, interruption of API service, or claims by third parties related to your use of Licensed Content.
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## 12. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless MangaBaka and its contributors and volunteers from and against all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to: your use of the MangaBaka API or database downloads, your violation of these terms, your violation of any third-party right (including any Third-Party Provider's terms of service), or your violation of any applicable law.
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## 13. Changes to These Terms
MangaBaka reserves the right to modify these terms at any time. Changes will be indicated by updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of this document. Material changes may also be announced via the MangaBaka API documentation, the database download page, the MangaBaka website, or other reasonable means.
Your continued use of the MangaBaka API or database downloads after changes are posted means you accept of the modified terms. If you do not agree to the modified terms, you must cease using the API.
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## 14. Severability
If any provision of these terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect. The invalid or unenforceable provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid and enforceable while preserving its original intent.
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## 15. Financial Transparency
MangaBaka's finances are managed through [OpenCollective](https://opencollective.com/mangabaka/donate?interval=month). All contributions, commercial licensing revenue, and expenses are publicly visible on our [finances page](/finances). Revenue is used exclusively to fund hosting, infrastructure, development, and data moderation.
For commercial use pricing, see our [commercial pricing page](/about/pricing). Most commercial users contribute on a pay-what-you-want basis. We suggest around 2% of gross monthly revenue.
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## 16. Contact
For questions about these terms, data licensing, or commercial use inquiries, [contact us](/about).