Terms of Use

Last updated: July 2026

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of kotobay.com and related services operated by Rokusho (“we”, “us”, “our”) — collectively, the “Service”. By using the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated here by reference. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. The Service

Kotobay is a free web tool that fetches and displays YouTube video captions (transcripts) that are already published on YouTube by the video creator.

The Service is provided for personal and lawful use. We may change, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Service at any time without notice.

2. Not affiliated with YouTube or Google

Kotobay is an independent service and is not associated, affiliated, endorsed, or sponsored by YouTube, Google, or Alphabet. YouTube is a trademark of Google LLC. Brand names and logos shown on the Service are used for identification only.

We retrieve captions through the same public mechanisms available to viewers. YouTube may change, restrict, or block access at any time; we are not responsible when a transcript is unavailable.

3. Eligibility

You must be old enough to consent to data processing in your jurisdiction, and at least 13 years old, to use the Service. If you are under 18, you should use the Service only with permission from a parent or guardian.

4. Your responsibilities

You are responsible for how you use transcripts. Caption text and video content belong to their respective creators and rights holders. Kotobay does not grant you any license to video, audio, or transcript content beyond what YouTube and applicable law already allow.

You agree to comply with YouTube’s Terms of Service and all applicable copyright and other laws.

5. Acceptable use

You may not:

Use bots, scrapers, or other automated means to access the Service beyond normal personal browsing, or attempt to circumvent rate limits or security measures.
Overload, disrupt, or interfere with the Service or the networks connected to it.
Use the Service for any illegal, harmful, or unauthorized purpose.
Reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract source code from the Service except where applicable law permits.
Misrepresent your affiliation with Kotobay, YouTube, or Google.

We rate-limit requests by IP address to prevent abuse and may block traffic we believe violates these Terms.

6. Third-party content and services

The Service embeds YouTube players and fetches data from YouTube on your behalf. Third-party sites and services have their own terms and privacy practices; we are not responsible for them. Your use of YouTube while viewing a transcript is governed by Google’s policies.

7. Privacy

Our Privacy Policy explains what information we process when you use the Service. The web Service does not require an account.

8. Disclaimer of warranties

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE”, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT TRANSCRIPTS WILL BE ACCURATE, COMPLETE, OR AVAILABLE FOR ANY PARTICULAR VIDEO.

9. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, ROKUSHO AND ITS OPERATORS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF DATA, PROFITS, OR GOODWILL, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM RELATING TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED USD $10.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations; in those cases, our liability is limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.

10. Changes

We may update these Terms from time to time. The “Last updated” date above will change when we do. Continued use of the Service after changes are posted means you accept the revised Terms.

11. Contact

Questions about these Terms: open an issue on our GitHub repository or visit rokusho.com.