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Copyright & Licensing Notice (HanziFinder)

Last updated: 2026-10-07

This page explains (1) the third-party data sources used by HanziFinder (“the Site”), (2) the applicable licenses for those sources, (3) ownership of HanziFinder’s original assets, and (4) how user-contributed content may be displayed on the Site.

1) Third-Party Sources & Licenses

The Site incorporates limited third-party data to provide pinyin, definitions, and certain glyph-related information. Licenses apply on a source-by-source basis, do not cross-apply, and do not affect HanziFinder’s original assets described in Section 2.

1.1 Wiktionary: Pinyin & Definitions (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Parts of the Site’s pinyin and definition text are derived from Wiktionary entries and are provided under
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).

  • Attribution: We attribute to “Wiktionary” and provide links to the relevant entries (including, where feasible, revision/history information).
  • Modifications: We may extract, clean, normalize, reformat, and merge content for presentation or technical purposes; such processing may be indicated as “processed / cleaned / normalized.”
  • Scope: This license statement applies only to pinyin and definition text derived from Wiktionary. It does not apply to HanziFinder’s original data structures, glyph graphs, search results organization, algorithms, or other proprietary content.

Reference:

1.2 Zdic (汉典网): Supplementary Chinese Definitions (CC0 1.0)

For characters where Wiktionary entries are missing or incomplete, the Site supplements definitions using publicly available Chinese definition data from Zdic.

According to Zdic’s copyright statement, its definition data is dedicated to the public domain under
CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication.

  • The Site uses only definition content that Zdic explicitly designates as CC0;
  • Such Chinese definitions are also released by the Site under CC0 1.0;
  • This CC0 scope applies only to the relevant definition text from Zdic and does not affect other Site content.

Reference:

1.3 Machine-Translated English Definitions (AI-generated)

For characters that have Chinese definitions but no available English definitions, the Site provides English translations generated using the Google Gemini 2.0 Flash model to assist non-Chinese readers.

  • These English definitions are automatically generated translations, and are not sourced from Wiktionary, Zdic, or any human-edited English dictionary;
  • All such entries are clearly labeled with the prefix “(translated)”;
  • Machine-translated content is provided for informational purposes only and is not guaranteed to be semantically, terminologically, or academically precise.

Such translations do not constitute redistribution of any third-party dataset. Their copyright and reuse status are subject to applicable laws governing AI-generated content.

1.4 Xiaoxue Tang (小學堂): Etymology Data & Glyph Images (CC0 1.0)

Parts of the Site’s etymology-related data and glyph images (including multiple resolutions) are derived from outputs obtained via the query interface of the Xiaoxue Tang (小學堂) project maintained by Academia Sinica, Taiwan.

According to Xiaoxue Tang’s licensing statement, glyph images and associated glyph-attribute information obtained via its query interface are released under CC0 1.0.

  • The Site may organize, clarify, clean, or convert such glyph images (e.g., SVG normalization);
  • Within the CC0 scope of the original source, these derived glyph image files are also released under CC0 1.0;
  • This section applies only to materials explicitly identified as CC0 outputs from Xiaoxue Tang.

Reference:

Note: Some materials available on third-party sites may be distributed under different licenses (e.g., certain font files). Unless explicitly stated otherwise on the Site, only the CC0-covered outputs described above are included in this section.

1.5 Liushutong (六書通) Glyph Images (Public-Domain Source Material)

Parts of the Site’s seal-script glyph images (labeled “Liushutong” on the Site) are derived from scans of the classical work Liushutong collected in the corresponding category on Wikimedia Commons.

Liushutong was compiled in the late Ming / early Qing period (completed 1661, printed 1720). Under the widely held legal understanding that faithful scans of such works do not give rise to new copyright, and based on currently available public information, we consider these original scans to be in the public domain.

  • The public-domain status described here refers only to the original scanned images; the Site claims no copyright in them.
  • The results of the Site’s own recognition, localization, cropping, cleaning, restoration, and SVG conversion of those images are addressed in Section 2.2. They are not covered by the public-domain status described here, and the use of public-domain source material does not automatically place them under any open license.

Reference:

1.6 Fonts for Rare Characters (Jigmo; Not Distributed by the Site)

To display rare and recently encoded CJK characters, the Site’s font stack falls back to the locally installed Jigmo fonts (Jigmo, Jigmo2, Jigmo3), released under CC0 1.0. Hanazono (HanaMin) fonts remain in the stack as a fallback for users who have not yet installed Jigmo.

  • No redistribution: the Site does not bundle, host, or serve these fonts. It only references them by name and links to their official download pages; the fonts are rendered only if installed on the user’s own device.
  • Separate licenses: each font is governed solely by its own license terms, which do not apply to the Site’s other content.

Reference:

2) HanziFinder Original Assets (All Rights Reserved)

Except where explicitly stated otherwise, HanziFinder’s original content is All Rights Reserved.

2.1 Character Graph Structures & Annotation Data (Core Asset)

The character-level Graph structures, including node/edge annotations, substructure localization data, and their structured representations (including but not limited to JSON/SVG renderings, caches, indices, database organization, and related compilation/derivation) are original works of the HanziFinder team and constitute core proprietary assets.

Without prior written permission, you may not:

  • copy, scrape, mirror, or bulk-export the Graph data;
  • republish or redistribute it (free or paid);
  • use it to train, fine-tune, or otherwise build datasets for machine learning;
  • use it to build competing or substantially similar character-structure search/cluster services.

HanziFinder reserves all rights to enforce technical and legal measures against unauthorized bulk access and reuse.

2.2 Liushutong Glyph Recognition & Restoration Data

The “Liushutong” glyph images are derived from public-domain scans of a classical work (see Section 1.5). Building on that material, the HanziFinder team carried out two stages of work:

  1. Recognition and localization: identifying, localizing, and cutting out individual glyphs from the original scans and associating each with its corresponding character. This requires substantial human judgment, particularly for blurred, damaged, or variant glyphs.
  2. Cleaning and restoration: using an in-house software pipeline that is not publicly released, the extracted glyphs are cleaned, restored (improving clarity and completing/correcting strokes), and converted to SVG, producing the final glyph images and the accompanying structured dataset.

The glyph images and structured dataset resulting from this recognition, localization, cropping, cleaning, restoration, and format conversion of public-domain source images are original works created through the HanziFinder team’s substantial intellectual judgment and labor. As a whole database/compilation, they are All Rights Reserved and subject to the use restrictions set out in Section 2.1.

Nothing in this section claims any rights in the original scanned images themselves.

2.3 Search Methods & Patent

Some core methods used by the Site are protected by an issued patent. Public information is available here:

We have filed/are filing in multiple jurisdictions (including the United States, China, and Taiwan). This notice is factual and does not grant any license to practice any patented method.

3) User Contributions & Public Sharing

3.1 What Counts as User-Contributed Content

User contributions may include (but are not limited to):

  • substructure queries and configurations;
  • curated result sets (e.g., grouped/filtered character lists and annotations);
  • “public share” pages that present characters matching a substructure and their structural locations.

3.2 Non-Exclusive License for On-Site Use (Required to Operate the Service)

To provide the Site’s functionality, users who accept the Terms of Service (“ToS”) grant HanziFinder a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license (revocable/terminable as defined by the ToS) to host, reproduce, process, display, and distribute their contributions on HanziFinder, solely as needed to operate features such as search, caching, rendering, and sharing links.

Users retain any rights they may have in their contributions.

3.3 Public Display Is Not a License for Third Parties

Unless explicitly authorized in writing by the user and/or HanziFinder, content publicly displayed on the Site does not grant third parties permission to scrape, bulk-export, republish, or commercially exploit it.

4) No Affiliation / No Endorsement

HanziFinder is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Wiktionary, the Wikimedia Foundation, Xiaoxue Tang, or their respective organizations (unless explicitly stated). Names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.

5) Disclaimer

  • Pinyin, definitions, etymology data, and structure annotations are provided for learning and research purposes and may contain errors or omissions.
  • Content may change due to source updates, corrections, and product iterations; historical and current versions may differ.

6) Copyright / Takedown / Corrections Contact

If you believe content on the Site infringes your rights, or you want to request corrections, please contact us with the relevant URLs, supporting documentation, and your requested action.

To license the Site’s glyph recognition and restoration data (Section 2.2) for academic research, non-commercial citation, or similar purposes, please contact us through the channels above.