1. Nihoner Original Content

All content created or commissioned directly by Nihoner — including platform software, site architecture, proprietary learning systems,
custom exercises, original audio/video, original articles, editorial commentary, and structured compilations — is protected under applicable
copyright, database-rights, and intellectual-property laws.

Unless otherwise stated, such content is © Nihoner. All rights reserved.

2. Licensed Educational Datasets & Open-Source Code

3. Open Educational Texts

3a. Public-Domain Japanese Literature — Aozora Bunko (青空文庫)

The Nihoner library at nihoner.com/books reproduces works of Japanese literature whose
copyright has expired. The digital texts are the work of volunteers at
Aozora Bunko (青空文庫),
Japan’s free digital library, who transcribe and proofread them from named printed editions.

Copyright in Japan expires 70 years after the author’s death (extended from 50 years by the TPP-11
implementing legislation of 30 December 2018, which was not applied retroactively to works already in the
public domain). Works that were public domain before that date remain so. Nihoner relies on Aozora’s
own determination rather than making its own, and re-checks it on every import.

A second, editorial filter is applied on top of the legal one: only files marked 新字新仮名
(modern characters, modern kana) are imported. Pre-war orthography is historically valuable and actively
unhelpful to somebody learning to read contemporary Japanese.

Attribution

Public-domain status removes the legal requirement to attribute; it does not remove the obligation. Every
book page on Nihoner names, in full and without abbreviation:

• the printed source edition (底本), its publisher and its printing dates;
• the work’s first publication (初出) where Aozora records it;
• the volunteer who typed the text (入力) and the volunteer who proofread it (校正);
• a direct link to the Aozora library card (図書カード) for that work.

Nihoner claims no copyright in these texts. The reading tools built around them — tokenisation,
furigana alignment, difficulty scoring, per-learner vocabulary matching and the links into Nihoner’s
dictionary, kanji and vocabulary pages — are Nihoner original content under section 1 above.
The literature itself belongs to everyone.

Synthetic narration

Where a sentence in the library can be played aloud, the audio is generated by
ElevenLabs text-to-speech
under Nihoner’s commercial licence, using licensed voices. It is machine-generated narration of a
public-domain text and is not a recording of any performer reading these works.

3b. Writing practice — stroke data and generated exercises

The handwriting trainer at nihoner.com/writing scores what you draw against the
stroke-by-stroke data in KanjiVG (Ulrich Apel), already credited in §2 and used here
under CC BY-SA 3.0. Nothing you draw leaves your browser: the comparison runs entirely on
your own device, and no image of your handwriting is uploaded, stored or transmitted.

The automatic check is a rule engine and is presented as one. It reports whether you used the pattern and
the words you were asked to use, whether every chunk you wrote is in the dictionary, whether your
politeness register is consistent and whether the sentence is properly closed. It does not claim to judge
naturalness, and where it is uncertain it says so.

4. Open-Data & Public-Domain Knowledge Sources

Nihoner programmatically enriches content using reputable open-data and public-domain knowledge sources. Attribution is provided consistent with underlying licenses:

• Wikidata® — CC0 1.0 Universal
• Wikipedia® — CC BY-SA 4.0
• DBpedia — CC BY-SA 3.0
• OpenStreetMap® — ODbL 1.0
• Wikivoyage® — CC BY-SA
• Open-Meteo — free/commercial weather datasets

5. Comics & Third-Party Visual Works (GoComics / Calvin & Hobbes)

6. Transformative Use & Editorial Independence

Nihoner does not act as a mirror, archive, or substitute for any third-party source. Where third-party works are referenced,
they are used in a transformative, proportional, and non-substitutive manner for teaching, criticism, and commentary.

7. Commercial & Affiliate Content

• Expedia Affiliate Network — flight and accommodation links may generate commission.
• Other affiliate links, if present, are disclosed in our Advertising & Affiliate Disclosure Policy.

Editorial independence is maintained.

8. Lottie Animations & UI Assets

Icons and motion graphics may be sourced from LottieFiles under MIT or Creative Commons licenses, with attribution preserved within asset files
or documentation where required.

Accuracy & Liability Disclaimer

Third-party materials are provided “as is.” Nihoner makes no warranties regarding accuracy, completeness, legality, or ongoing availability.
Nihoner disclaims liability for errors, omissions, outages, or reliance on third-party content.

Usage Permissions

Unless a more permissive licence applies, third-party materials are used exclusively for educational, research, and informational purposes within Nihoner.
Attribution does not imply endorsement. Nothing herein grants a trademark, redistribution, or commercial license without express written consent from the relevant rights holder.

Fair-Use / Fair-Dealing & Teaching-Exception Statement

Depending on jurisdiction, Nihoner may rely on statutory exceptions/limitations for teaching and commentary, including:
(i) U.S. fair use (17 U.S.C. § 107) for criticism, comment, teaching, scholarship, and research, assessed under the statutory factors; and
(ii) EU teaching illustration exceptions (including Article 5(3)(a) of Directive 2001/29/EC and Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2019/790),
implemented via national law. These principles support limited, proportional educational display with source attribution where feasible.

Governing Law & Jurisdiction

This Credits & Notices page is governed by the laws of the Republic of Poland. Jurisdiction resides with competent Polish courts,
without prejudice to mandatory consumer-protection laws.

Notice-and-Takedown Procedure

If you are a rights holder (or authorized agent) and believe material appears on Nihoner beyond permissions or statutory exceptions, please submit a notice using our contact page.
We respond quickly and in good faith.

Survival & Version History

This page survives termination of user accounts or service access.

• v2.5 — 23 Aug 2026 — Added §3b: handwriting stroke data (KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0), disclosure of machine-generated composition exercises, and an explicit statement that learner writing and handwriting are not transmitted to any model
• v2.4 — 22 Aug 2026 — Added §3a: public-domain Japanese literature from Aozora Bunko, the two-flag eligibility test the importer enforces, per-work attribution policy, and synthetic-narration disclosure
• v2.3 — 10 Jan 2026 — Added Comics/GoComics section, display policy, strengthened takedown details
• v2.2 — 17 Dec 2025 — Added explicit Wikidata acknowledgment; clarified open-data treatment
• v2.1 — 27 Jul 2025 — Dataset credits expanded
• v2.0 — 13 Jul 2025 — Comprehensive overhaul
• v1.0 — 21 Jun 2025 — Initial publication