Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of terms

By using bannedindex.org (“the site”) you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the site.

2. What Banned Index is

Banned Index is a public-interest, free-to-access database of US book bans and related legislation. It is built and maintained as a research and journalism resource. It is NOT a law firm, is NOT legal advice, and is NOT a substitute for professional consultation on any matter.

3. Data license

The data published on Banned Index is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). You are free to share, adapt, and republish the data for any purpose, including commercial use, provided you give appropriate attribution. See our Attribution & License page for the required citation format.

The source code of the site is released separately under an open-source license on GitHub.

4. Accuracy and “as-is” disclaimer

We take data accuracy seriously. Every record is linked to a source, and our methodology is documented publicly on the methodology page. That said:

• The database is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, express or implied
• We do not guarantee completeness, accuracy, timeliness, or fitness for any particular purpose
• Information may be out of date. A book listed as “banned” may have been reinstated; a law listed as “signed” may have been subsequently challenged or amended
• Journalism, academic work, legal proceedings, and policy decisions based on data from Banned Index should independently verify critical facts using the source links we provide

5. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Banned Index and its maintainers shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the site or reliance on its data, including but not limited to damages for loss of business, lost profits, or data inaccuracy.

6. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Use the site in any way that violates applicable laws or regulations
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the site, servers, or databases
• Scrape or crawl the site in a way that imposes an unreasonable load (use the public API when it becomes available, or contact us for bulk data access)
• Misrepresent yourself or the data when republishing, including removing attribution required by the CC BY 4.0 license
• Impersonate Banned Index or claim endorsement that has not been granted

7. Corrections and takedown

If you believe the site contains inaccurate or improperly published information, please see our Corrections Policy for how to report it. We aim to review and respond to correction requests within 30 days.

8. Third-party links

The site links to news articles, government documents, court filings, and other third-party sources. We are not responsible for the content or availability of those resources. Source links may go dead over time; where possible, we also provide Wayback Machine archive links as a backup.

9. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as the project evolves. Changes will be noted by the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. Continued use of the site after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised terms.

10. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the United States and the state where Banned Index is maintained, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Any disputes arising from these terms will be resolved in a court of competent jurisdiction.

11. Contact

Questions about these terms? Email hello@bookhoardapp.com.