Comic Hosting Guidelines and Policies
Comic Hosting Guidelines and Policies
Please keep in mind: These are the current stances and policies. They are not carved in stone. So if
we see the need to revise one of them, we will.
we see the need to revise one of them, we will.
Comic Entries
- Comics or comic-related content i.e. comic/manga/manhwa/manhua/doujinshi/webcomics/imageset/arts are permitted.
- It is strictly prohibited to publish content with the goal of spamming, trolling or phishing Bato.to users. Furthermore, content including child pornography, discrimination, terrorism, intimidation or advertising is not permitted.
- Comics entirely available for free on platforms like Webtoon or Bilibili are prohibited, except with the author's permission.
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[Rule effective from 8th November, 2023 UTC 0] Webtoon series that meet the following criteria are now
allowed on Bato.to:
(a) Completed and solely available through daily pass/fast pass after it's completion (i.e. they won't be allowed if they're free to read while ongoing)(b) Ongoing and solely available through daily pass/fast pass
- The comics on the banned list of titles are NOT allowed on the site.
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What makes a legitimate claim -
(a)The uploader of the first chapter (e.g. Chapter 1, prologue or chapter 0) in its entirety, claims the series. Do not upload in descending order, as it invalidates the claim.(b) For pre-announced series, the comic SHOULD be unhidden in advance. Unhiding the comic after uploading the first chapter will invalidate the claim even if the chapter was uploaded first.(c) For surprise releases, the page should be unhidden within 2 minutes of chapter upload.(d) In case panels are missing, the next uploader to publish the completed first chapter gets the series.(g) In case a claim is disputed and a mod has been asked to intervene, please avoid making any changes to your pages/chapters. Any change made after requesting mod assistance voids your claim.
- Uploaders, please make sure to add trigger warnings to your comic page/chapter if any exists. Warnings should be visible to readers before they start reading
- Please use appropriate fonts, titles and cover images for adding new comic entries. Any memes/self-made cover images/random fonts or titles will be considered spam
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With regard to asking for permission for a page from an uploader, the following criteria are
applicable:
(a) If a comic hasn't been updated in 30 days.(b) Titles that have recently returned from hiatus are eligible for permission requests if: (a) the uploader is active but has not updated the comic in 30 days (since it was released on the official site) or (b) If the uploader is inactive.For asking perms, you can come to our discord server and ask in #support (preferred) or directly message any of the mods via v3x.Note - In case an uploader revokes perms after it was given to another uploader as a result of the above-mentioned rule or updates a series after perms were asked/given, it would be considered rule-breaking and will count as a strike and will warrant a warning.
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Any Series can be a maximum of 2 chapters behind the latest update. beyond that, permissions will be
open.
(a) Manga series are an exception due to erratic schedules.
- For new series, the initial chapters (the mass release from the series provider) should be uploaded 2 weeks after release.
- Uploaders with 40 or more series, should make sure to update one chapter every 2 update cycles. Mass uploading chapters 1-5 days before it hits the 30th day will be considered as evading the 30-day rule, and perms shall be open for any such series.
- Don't vandalize our comic database. Our comic database consists of all metadata about comics, such as the categorization of comics, comic titles, author/artist information, and genre information. Our system is a wiki-like system, and any user may edit it. Do not intentionally add incorrect/inaccurate information; remove information that is correct/accurate or change it to something you know to be incorrect/inaccurate. We take this very seriously and may permaban on the first offence.
- Don't steal others' releases. Do not upload material with inaccurate credits. Particularly, do not claim that you worked on a project when you have not.
- Do not add duplicate entries. Search for multiple alternate titles before adding a series. We do not consider something a duplicate upload if either the group/translation/language is different. Constantly uploading dupes despite warnings will count as a strike and will warrant a warning.
- Hiding a series but later unhiding them will be considered as a dupe in case the series was re-uploaded by someone else. Hence, the original becomes a dupe in such cases.
- Partial upload, inclusive of those intending to lure users to external sites, are not permited. Don't upload just a few chapters if the series already has an active uploader. Such action will be considered spamming and will result in mod intervention.
- You have complete control authority for the comic ID you added, and you can set it to only allow yourself or specified users to modify/upload it.
- For comics where you are not the creator, you can modify and upload as long as the creator does not have any restrictions. Alternatively, please contact the creator and request permisiion should the series be locked. Currently, the creator can be contacted via v3x as well as Discord. If you need control permissions, you can join our Discord Server and ask for help in #support channel.
- Please append (Official) in the title of the comic if it's an official translation and there also exists a scanlated release for it.
- The existence of an official translation has no relevance to the rules for uploading scanlated releases.
- Comics available entirely for free on platforms such as (but not limited to) webtoons are not allowed. (Exception: with author's permission)
- Bato moderators will not interfere in case there is any conflict between uploaders. Interference will be made in case the site is being disrupted or if any uploader is being harassed as a result of any other uploader's actions.
- For More Detailed instructions on chapter uploading, see Chapter Uploading Guide.
Mature Series Policy
All [R18] releases are to be hosted separately from their [R15]/[All Ages] counterparts.
However, there has been a recent trend where publishers (eg. Tappytoon, Lezhin, Tapas) will release a [R18]
version months (time between releases vary) after the release of [R15]/[All Ages] version. In cases like these,
the following rule applies:
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If the smut is added into the comic like it's a regular chapter (no special chapter labeling or considered
a .5 chapter), then you can just add [R18 version] next to the chapter title while letting it
coexist with the [R15 version], please make sure to change it so that readers can differentiate between
the two (Please refer to the image attached for a visual example)
But, if the chapter is titled as a "special chapter" on the original site OR titled as a "0.5" chapter, then please make a separate page for it. You could put [R18 Version] in the title or put a 🔞 sign somewhere on the comic thumbnail.
- Content from sites such as Fakku & Irodori etc. are NOT allowed on the site. (older uploaded works will stay up but works uploaded after November 1, 2023 will be taken down)
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Child Pornography is strictly not allowed. Content under child Pornography includes:
(a) If any character is under the age of 16 or below high school.(b) In cases of age not being mentioned, the character design will be taken into consideration to see if they're drawn in a childlike manner.(c) In cases where the character is over 16 but is drawn as childlike, that will be considered as CP.(d) For any series portraying romantic relationships between minors and adults the skinship shouldn't be overly sexual or gross
- Any account uploading more than 3 CP series will be instantly banned.
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Scanlation Group Policies
- We strongly recommend that you obtain permission from the scanlation group before uploading fan scans.
- Any scanlated series is allowed to be uploaded unless the series's scanlation group has enabled upload restrictions.
- Upload under the group "Unknown" if it is not possible to determine which group is responsible for the release.
- If the scanlator does not wish to create a group, upload under "no group" name.
- Uploading a few/half chapters to promote and lure readers to their own website is not allowed. Any such incident will warrant action.
- If any scan group wants to take down/take over their projects that have been uploaded by someone else on the site, please reach out to the mods via discord/v3x with proof that it is indeed your work.
- Batoto won't interfere with conflict among different groups, they will have to resolve those on their own.
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Content Removal Request
- The Moderators won't actively modify/remove the contents uploaded by users within the scope allowed by the rules.
- We will process content removal requests in case the data center asks us to delete specific contents.
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When is an account Banned?
- An account is banned after 2 warnings and 3 strikes. Strikes can include any rule-breaking mentioned above or reports by other users.
- Warnings will be issued via direct message/comments/warning feature.
- Instant ban is done in cases of:
(a) Spambots(b) Spamming irrelevant or malicious links(c) Spamming fake chapters(d) Mod impersonation
Just to be clear on this: The rules are established and enforced to protect our readers, the scanlators as well as Batoto's continued existence. Join our discord server for more questions.