Lightning Source Content Integrity Guidelines

Lightning Source takes a necessary stand to uphold the integrity of and reduce bias against independently published works. To align with our industry’s needs for content integrity, we will actively remove content from our catalog that is deemed unsuitable according to the criteria specified below, that may be deemed illegal or harmful under applicable law, or that may otherwise harm buyers or the reputations of Lightning Source, its affiliates, our publishers or distribution channels; Lightning Source retains the right to make any such determination in its sole and absolute discretion.

We take violations of law and the proprietary rights of others very seriously. You must ensure that your content does not violate any applicable laws or infringe upon the rights of others, including but not limited to copyright, trademark, privacy, or publicity rights.

The below criteria describe the types of content that may not be accepted:

1. Summaries, workbooks, abbreviations or similar type content without permission from the original author.
2. Content containing material amounts of blank pages like notepads, scratchpads, journals, or similar type content.
3. Content that mirrors/mimics popular titles, including without limiting, similar covers, cover design, title, author names, or similar type content.
4. Content that is misleading or likely to cause confusion by the buyer, including without limiting, inaccurate descriptions and cover art.
5. Content listed at prices not reflective of the book’s literary value.
6. Content scanned from original versions where all or parts contain illegible content to the detriment of the buyer.
7. Content created using automated means, including but not limited to content generated using artificial intelligence or mass-produced processes.
8. Content that is duplicated across titles in the same format in multiple trim sizes.
9. Public domain content may be free to use by anyone or may be licensed for use by more than one party. We will not accept content that is freely available on the web unless you are the copyright owner of that content. We do accept public domain content but may choose not to sell a public domain book if its content is undifferentiated or barely differentiated from one or more other books.