Guidelines

pixiv Inc. (the “Company”) recognizes the social responsibility of BOOTH, and in order to conduct sound and smooth management of services, has specified these BOOTH Guidelines.
In order for Shop Owners to be able to use BOOTH with a peace of mind and safely, these Guidelines specifically explain conduct that falls under Article 14 of the pixiv Inc. Master Terms of Use and examples of Product that fall under Article 6 of the BOOTH Individual Terms of Use.
These Guidelines are independently specified by the Company, and may be changed at the Company’s discretion depending on changes in society and the environment. Please be aware in advance that any matter not specified in these Guidelines will be in accordance with the provisions of the pixiv Inc. Master Terms of Use.

Age Restriction Additions and Disabling Public Display of Products

When a Shop Owner sells a Product, the Company will treat images, titles and descriptions registered with BOOTH as part of the Product, and verify whether the product falls under the age-restricted products or prohibited products (hereinafter collectively referred to as "Prohibited Item(s)"). If the Company determines that a Product can be classified as a Prohibited Item, the Company will take measures such as placing the age restriction label of “R-18” to the Prohibited Item and preventing users of BOOTH from viewing the Prohibited Item, such as disabling the public display of the Prohibited Item. Determination as to whether a Product can be classified as a Prohibited Item will be done by the Company as soon as it is made aware of the situation, regardless of the timing of the sale of the Product. Further, malicious acts including the following prohibited conduct may result in the suspension of the user’s account. Please understand that the Company is unable to respond to any inquiries regarding actions taken by the Company or the reasons for such actions.

Prohibited Conduct

When using BOOTH, a user must not engage in any conduct that falls under the following or that the Company determines falls under the following.

  • High-volume or frequent posting of prohibited items
  • Tags or comments etc. that are defamatory, threatening, or economically or psychologically damaging or detrimental
  • Use of crawlers and other programs to gather Products
  • Conduct that imposes excessive loads on the server

Age Restricted Product (R-18 Product)

When selling a Product that falls under any of the following on BOOTH, a user must always enter a check mark on the “R-18” box on the Product registration screen to apply age restrictions. Even for a Product that is set as “All ages,” if the Company determines that purchase of the Product by a person under the age of 18 is inappropriate, based on the Company’s judgment, the age restriction will be changed to “R-18” at such time.

  • Products that contain expressions that are inappropriate for users under the age of 18
  • Products expressing anything related to sex, the union or joining of genitals, or anything reminiscent of sexual activity
  • Products containing expressions related to violent scenes, highly dangerous or stimulating ideas, or imitative expressions

Mosaic Processing

Genitalia, genital contact, and areas reminiscent of such, as well as grotesque content depicting mutilation, amputation, or similar, must be censored appropriately. We've posted a list of our censorship standards below, so please refer to this list when censoring your post. However, as previously stated, content that falls under "Treatment of live-action material or photo-realistic images that could be mistaken for live action" may not be registered to BOOTH, regardless of censorship.

(1) Method of Mosaic Processing

  • Details are hidden based on visual judgment
  • Mosaic Processing should be performed at the same dimension until it has reached a level where it is impossible to technically reverse the edit
  • The range must include the outline
  • Ensure that details are not obscured by transparency
  • Refer to the following for obscuration by mosaics
    Mosaics should use squares that are least 4x4 pixels in size, and if the length of the image is 400 pixels or more, the dimensions of the mosaic squares in the necessary area should be 1/100 of the length of the entire image
  • Mosaic Processing using solid colors should conceal all inappropriate parts, but exceptions can be made if concealing only a part of the image results in obscuration
  • Mosaic Processing using white liquids or other patterns should conceal all inappropriate parts, but exceptions can be made if concealing only a part of the image results in obscuration
  • Areas censored using whiteout or other censorship techniques must censor the sensitive areas completely, but partial censorship may be acceptable if it prevents the areas from being clearly visible.

(2) Examples of areas that require Mosaic Processing

  1. Genitals or areas reminiscent of genitals
  2. Areas related to the union or joining of genitals or the insertion
  3. Areas related to the union or joining of anuses or the insertion
  4. Areas that cuts and lacerations etc. are unnecessarily expressed in detail and excess

Prohibited Items

The following products (prohibited items) cannot be sold on BOOTH. If the Company determines that a product is a prohibited item, the item will automatically be set to Private.

  • Products that are defamatory, threatening, or economically or psychologically damaging or detrimental
  • Products that contain expressions or depictions of genitals or exposures
  • Products that contain expressions that evoke the genital joint using a non-actual object
  • Products that contain needlessly distorted depictions of sex
  • Products that contain shockingly and disturbingly strong violence scene
  • Products that promote needlessly extreme ideas
  • Products that glorify or excessively foster anti-social conduct
  • Products that contain expressions that unfairly discriminate against race, belief, occupation, gender or religion
  • Products that display the actions of religious cults or political extremists
  • Products that contain excessively brutal scenes that unnecessarily exaggerate stimulation or that might be expected to lead to imitation
  • Products that contain clearly sexualized depictions of young children

Treatment of live-action material or photo-realistic images that could be mistaken for live action.

  • Live action
  • Photo-realistic work that could be mistaken for live action
  • Works that cause concerns about whether their creation may have involved the victimization of living people or animals

Products that are deemed by the Company to fall into these categories, and to which any of the following items apply, may not be registered to BOOTH regardless of censorship method, including use of mosaic. Moreover, if the Company determines that a product falls under any of the following, the product will automatically be set to Hidden.

  • Products that contain excessive exposures
  • Products that may infringe on portrait rights, design rights, or other intellectual property rights
  • Products for which the necessary permission for use has not been obtained from the subject or photographer
  • Products based on real-life photographs of minors
  • Products that are highly reminiscent of genitals or sexual acts
  • Products that are contrary to public order and morals
  • Products which were filmed without permission at public roads, parks, schools, commercial facilities, train stations, private homes of other persons, or other places where entry and filming etc. require permission
  • Products that contain expressions related to uniforms, personal effects, or badges etc. of real occupations (such as police officers and firefighters), qualifications, etc. and that have the potential to undermine trust in or misuse of such occupations, qualifications, etc
  • Products that the Company determines to be inappropriate
    • Examples:
      • Products that excessively depict hypnosis, bondage, physical restraint, sexual assault, or drugs etc., and Products that depict violent, dangerous or shocking expressions (not limited to the foregoing)
      • Products that the Company find inappropriate in light of social morals or ethics
    *Product that the Company may find inappropriate is not limited to the foregoing.

Updated on December 15th, 2022
Updated on August 19th, 2021
Enacted on December 27th, 2013