Publish Setup · Topic 6 of 17
Confirming Publishing Rights
What to do
Confirm, honestly, that you own or control the rights to publish this specific content.
Why it matters
This isn't a formality. KDP requires you to confirm you have the rights to publish, and publishing content you don't have the rights to (someone else's writing, images you don't have a license for, public domain content you've misrepresented as original) can get a book removed or an account suspended.
Step-by-step
- On the Rights step, select whether this is your own original, previously unpublished work, or content already in the public domain, and answer honestly.
- If you used a co-writer, ghostwriter, or licensed content (like stock images or a licensed foreword), make sure you actually hold the rights to publish that material before checking this box, not just permission to use it privately.
- If your book includes public domain content, be specific and accurate about which parts are public domain versus original, since misrepresenting this is against KDP's content guidelines.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Treating this step as a checkbox formality rather than an actual confirmation you need to be sure of.
- Publishing content you found online without confirming you actually have the rights to redistribute it, not just view it.
Completion checklist
0 of 1 checked
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Troubleshooting
I hired a ghostwriter. Whose rights am I confirming?
Whatever your contract with the ghostwriter says. Most ghostwriting agreements transfer the rights to you as the credited author, but confirm that's actually written into your agreement before publishing under your name.