Our approach
- We only publish books that are in the public domain, that are openly licensed, or that we have permission to share. We do not sell books.
- Every book page shows its source and rights, so you can see what you may do with it.
- When we are told about a problem, we act quickly and remove content while we look into it.
Where books come from
Books are collected from reliable open sources, and the source is credited on each book page. Sources include:
- Project Gutenberg: works that are in the public domain in the United States.
- Internet Archive: scanned books that we select from before 1930 and that are not access-restricted.
- OpenStax and similar open textbook projects: books under Creative Commons licences, credited as those licences require.
We check the publication date and the stated rights when we add a book, but we cannot examine every book in every country, so please tell us if we have made a mistake.
Public domain and your country
A book that is in the public domain in the United States is not always in the public domain elsewhere. In many countries copyright lasts for the author’s life plus 70 years. If you live outside the United States, please check your local law before you copy, share or republish a book.
Translations, introductions, notes, illustrations and modern editions can have their own copyright even when the original work is free. We aim to offer only editions that are free of such rights.
Reporting infringement
If you are a rights holder, or act for one, and believe a book or file on the site infringes your copyright, please send a notice to [email protected] with:
- your name, address, email and telephone number;
- a description of the work you say was infringed, with a link or proof that you own the rights;
- the address (URL) of the page where our copy is shown, so we can find it;
- a statement that you believe in good faith that the use is not authorised by the rights holder, its agent or the law;
- a statement that the information in your notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the rights holder or authorised to act for them;
- your physical or electronic signature.
This follows section 512(c)(3) of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the notice-and-action approach of the EU Digital Services Act. We usually respond within 2 business days. Please do not send false notices: knowingly misrepresenting a claim can make you liable for damages.
We may remove or disable access to the material, tell the person who supplied it, and give them a copy of your notice.
Counter-notice
If your content was removed and you believe that was a mistake or that you have the right to use the material, write to [email protected] with your contact details, a description of the removed material and where it appeared, a statement under penalty of perjury that you believe in good faith it was removed by mistake, your consent to the courts of your country, and your signature. If the person who complained does not start legal action within 10 to 14 business days, we may restore the material.
Repeat infringers
In appropriate circumstances we will close the accounts of users who repeatedly infringe copyright.
Credits and trademarks
“Project Gutenberg”, “Internet Archive” and “OpenStax” are trademarks of their owners. We use the names only to identify the source of a work, and we are not affiliated with or endorsed by them. Where a Creative Commons licence applies, the book page links to the licence and names the author and source.