#ao3 tos

[frownyalfred]

author: hey there’s a guy saying he hates me and he’s gonna murder me in a bookmark on my fic

ao3 critical bookmark defenders: well why were you in the bookmarks, silly? that’s for READERS! maybe he’s letting people know your fic makes people homicidal okay! readers deserve a heads up. what if he has a rec list :/

[xiaokuer-schmetterling]

podficcer PSA

TODAY I LEARNED THAT YOU MUST HAVE CREATOR PERMISSION (ie fic author) TO MAKE DERIVATIVE WORKS (ie podfic) AND POST IT TO AO3...even if you thought you'd made a good faith effort to get permission and credited the creator and linked back to their work...and this even applies to anon and orphaned works

no author permission = no podfic posting

😰😰😰 had to delete two works today :/

THE VIBE IS IN SHAMBLES MEME by @kcsplace

relevant portion of ao3 terms of service below the cut for reference

excerpted from https://archiveofourown.org/tos_faq#derivative_work

Can I post a translation or a podfic of someone else's work?

Translations and podfics can be posted only if you have permission from the copyright owner (usually the creator or publisher) of the original work. If you do not have permission, then you may not post your work.

What if the original creator deleted or orphaned their work, or posted it anonymously?

Even if someone deletes or orphans their work, or posts it anonymously, they still hold the copyright to their own work. If the original creator has chosen to remove their fanwork from the internet, or cannot be contacted, then please respect their decision. You cannot post, convert, podfic, or translate someone else's work without their explicit permission, even if you credit them or disclaim credit for yourself.

How can I obtain permission to post, convert, podfic, or translate someone else's work?

Some fanwork creators may list "blanket permission" statements in their profile or in the tags or notes of their work. An example of a blanket permission statement would be "Anyone can translate my works so long as they provide me credit and link back to the original here on AO3." In such cases, you have permission if and only if you meet the conditions of the permission statement.

If a creator doesn't have a blanket permission statement, then you can try to contact them directly and ask. This could be by commenting on their work or asking them via social media or email (if they have shared that information publicly). If the creator responds and gives you permission, then you're good to go. If they refuse or do not respond, then you do not have their permission and you may not post the work.

[ao3-shenanigans]

hey uh, I've been scouring the internet for this and I really need to ask someone. I saw a fic which used the major character death warning even though there.. was no death. the author treats this as a joke, and I do want to ask if that's a violation of the ToS?

Unfortunately, I don’t believe so. A lot of the TOS focuses on saying what happens if one under-tags a work, but there’s almost nothing about over-tagging a work. Below is the section I found most relevant.

“What kinds of mis-tagging does Abuse handle?

We encourage direct dialogue with the creator. However, Abuse also handles complaints about work language (e.g., Chinese mistagged as French); Archive warnings; Archive ratings; fandom categorization and work type (once work type is implemented). Tag recategorization policies are about required tags. Abuse will not recategorize any optional tags, though optional tags are subject to relevant principles of the general content policy, including the harassment policy. Unless a tag violates some other policy, such as the harassment policy, Abuse will not mediate disputes about general tagging (e.g., whether a particular relationship tag should or should not be present).”

[onetruechromosome]

Bit concerned about AO3’s new TOS, to be honest.

I’m sure I’m just being paranoid but I have this mental image of some random AO3 employee in America looking at what I read and then going through the images on my phone.

[ificouldhelpyouforget]

Hey, back again with another AO3 PSA since this has come up again in the subreddit: Do not promote you fic that is behind pay walls. That's against the TOS. Keeping that out of focus is how AO3 is allowed to exist without creating legal issues. You put it behind a paywall, and you and the archive can get into legal trouble if the wrong people catch it.

Your fics will be reported. If you want to post your fics on AO3, don't put any behind pay walls. Seriously. It'll save you a lot of annoyance. I don't think fanfic should be behind pay walls anyway. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I'm attaching the TOS FAQ section that explains:

[boyslit-moving]

"this is probably against the rules" ok so don't do it. i don't want to see your bullshit requests on ao3 clogging up the site. if it's not a fanwork, it does not belong. so either you take it down or we alert ao3 staff and they will take it down.

"teehee im violating TOS" cool I'm exploding you in a billion pieces with my mind

[mifeeey]

reminder to remove underage warning from your fics if they only include things like underage drinking (if people do that, i think i have seen that before)

[siriuslysatorusimping]

Hi! I love your writing and think you deserve everything people give you on ko-fi (and more), but I just wanted to give you a heads up that you might want to remove the link in your AO3 profile. AO3 is super strict about “commercial activities,” and that includes posting links to things like ko-fi. If they catch you, you could get banned. And that would be terrible, because your stories are amazing!

Hi, thank you for the warning! I genuinely appreciate you looking out for me 😊

I've looked into it a few times, but you got me searching beyond the AO3 TOS because to be perfectly honest, they aren't as explicit as they should be when it comes to things that could get their users banned.

I found this post that actually explicitly states that ko-fi/patreon links aren't permitted, and it's incredibly frustrating to me that it isn't explicitly stated in TOS but in a post on Tumblr.

It is also frustrating because a donation link is different than a commercial link. A commercial link is advertising a service you are offering in exchange for money. A donation link is providing an optional place for funds to be donated with nothing expected in return.

If they don't want people putting any link that could be related to funds of any kind, then they need to be explicit in their TOS and list the sites that are not permitted (or at least give examples), because they make it pretty clear in the Tumblr post that ko-fi and patreon links are ban-worthy offenses.

To be perfectly clear: I do not have a problem with them not permitting these links. I do, however, have a problem that they are not absolutely explicit in their TOS and it took multiple Google searches to find an explanation. I am well aware that this is likely my tisms on full display but fuck it this is frustrating as hell.

ANYWAY. Thank you again for your warning, sweet anon. Especially since you got me to go searching further for more answers! I've removed my ko-fi link from my AO3, so if anyone notices one that I missed, please let me know here! 😊

Have a good day!! 💕

[shy-socially-awkward-intovert]

TOS REMINDER FOR AO3 USERS

Advertising to and or linking your Patreon is against TOS.

AND

Spam works are also against TOS and can get you permanently suspended on first offence in some cases.

[justveeing]

But, as he rematerialises and catches sight of Spock’s glossy hair and pointed ears amidst the waiting crowd in the transport station, he’s sure even this tourist’s haven of commercialism has its benefits. Spock’s gaze softens as their eyes meet, and Jim steps down from the platform as Spock comes to greet him.

For this year's @kiscon zine I had the absolute pleasure of doing 5 illustrations for @gunstreet's amazing fic Late Bloomer. It's a 10K rated E TOS story full of fun shenanigans, sweet moments and a very incredible explicit ending (there also a sexy illustration there!).

Read it HERE. You won't regret it (;

[lenin-it-to-win-it]

girl if my fucking BOSS, my CAPTAIN, was talking about me like this i would mutiny so hard

[gaytricorder]

me when i’m on ao3 reading gay fanfiction and my mom brings me a snack

[cacodaemonia]

AO3 gives additional information and examples of what are considered fanworks and non-fanworks in the ToS FAQ. Both the main FAQ and the ToS one are helpful and very detailed, so I recommend checking them out. The FAQ also includes a lot of tutorials and explanations about how to use AO3.

TOS Spotlight: Non-fanworks

The Policy & Abuse committee is posting a weekly spotlight series explaining some of the most common violations of the #AO3 Terms of Service. This week's spotlight is on non-fanworks. Read more at: https://otw-news.org/2p85b7np

[thatwavephenomenon]

I don't know how many saw this but Spockanalia (first Star Trek fanzine ever published), Masiform D (longest running Star Trek fanzine) and The Compleat Kershu Fighter have now been imported on ao3. I'm so glad to see this because even though I've read about the existence of a lot of Star Trek fanzines, finding scans of them online can really be a struggle.

[steadyeagleluminary]

Protective. [Reference Image below]

Idk this just spoke spirk to me and I wanted a pfp I drew myself so it all worked out

[headphones-lifeform]

My incomplete collection of silly Star Trek AO3 fanfiction tags

I am always on the lookout for more, so if you know of a work with an amusing tag, do tell!