Archive of Our Own ^beta

The Policy & Abuse committee (PAC) is responsible for enforcing the AO3 Terms of Service (TOS). To help users better understand the TOS, we're posting a weekly spotlight series about the TOS and our policies. We'll also be reading comments and answering questions on this and our other spotlight posts.

In today's post, we'll discuss two categories of TOS violations that have a lot of overlap: plagiarism and copyright infringement.

Don't go looking for things to report.

Please do not start searching for plagiarized or infringing works to report after reading this post. We know that plagiarism and copyright infringement can happen on AO3, as on any site. However, when people deliberately search for works to report, we end up getting a lot of duplicate tickets about works that have already been reported. Every ticket we receive is reviewed by a PAC volunteer, so we only need one report in order to investigate an issue. We know it seems like sites only respond to mass reports, but on AO3, duplicate and mass reports increase the time it takes our volunteers to investigate.

AO3 is for transformative fanworks

AO3 is an archive for fanfiction and other transformative fanworks. Transforming a work means that you are adding a new expression, different purpose, or alternate perspective to the source work. A transformative fanwork doesn't copy the original source; instead, it uses the characters, setting, or other inspiration from an existing work to make a new, distinct creative work.

Transformative fanworks can be posted without requiring permission from the creator of the original work. When considering whether a work is transformative, we apply the same standards to fanworks as to professional works. This means that a fanwork based on another fanwork is allowed, just as much as a fanwork of a professionally published novel is. You are allowed to write a story or create fanart about someone else's original character, or to use the same general ideas, tropes, or story structures as someone else. Two works can share the same premise, setting, and plot while still being transformative.

However, replacing names, swapping out words for their synonyms, or making other superficial changes to the source work is not considered transformative. A transformative work needs to have a large amount of creative expression that is original to you.

Plagiarism vs copyright infringement

Plagiarism occurs when a person reproduces large portions of someone else's work or very heavily bases their work on another without adequately transforming it, and doesn't credit the source. This lack of credit makes it appear as though the copied work is entirely their own original, unique idea and expression.

To avoid potential issues of plagiarism, you can cite your source by linking back to the original, for example by using AO3's Inspired By feature. However, just because you provided credit doesn't mean you're automatically okay: your work may still be in violation of our other policies, such as copyright infringement.

Copyright infringement occurs when a work reproduces large portions of a different work, whether verbatim or with very little alteration (i.e. not in a transformative manner), without the authorization of the copyright owner. Even if you credit the source, reproducing too much of someone else's content is still a violation of their copyright unless you have the copyright owner's explicit permission.

Permission is not required for short quotations. Use a limited amount that's reasonable for your purpose, such as:

• 2-3 lines of lyrics per song
• 2-3 lines of text per short chapter of a novel
• 10 minutes of screentime per TV episode or movie

If you want to include longer excerpts, you will need the copyright owner's permission. This applies regardless of whether the original work is a fanwork or published professionally.

Permission to reuse fanworks

Some fan creators will give other people permission to reproduce larger portions of their works than would ordinarily be permitted by copyright laws alone. They may do this by granting blanket permissions for particular uses (for example, "Anyone can translate or podfic my work, but I don't allow reposts or nameswaps") or by applying an official license (such as Creative Commons) to the work, which grants various permissions based on terms specific to the exact license.

If permission to reproduce the work is accompanied by specific terms, then you must follow those terms. For example, a creator may say, "You can translate my fic so long as you link back to the original." In that case, if you post your translation without providing a link, you’re violating our policies. In order for your translation to be allowed, you would need to include the link as requested.

Common types of infringement

Unauthorized reposts

If you want to upload someone else's work to AO3, you need to have their permission. It doesn't matter how difficult it might be to contact them: even if the original creator posted their work a decade ago and then vanished from the internet, they still have copyright over their own work.

If you can't get permission but you still want to save or share somebody else's fanwork from another site, you can create an external bookmark that links to the work on that site, and add tags and notes to your bookmark so that other AO3 users can also find and enjoy the work.

Minor edits and adaptations

Making minor changes to a work doesn't make the work original to you. If you've only changed the characters' names and/or pronouns, or corrected the original author's grammar or formatting, that isn't transformative. You'll need the creator's permission to adapt their work like this and post it to AO3.

Too many quotes: transcripts and "character reaction" works

Transcripts (whether of TV episodes, movies, plays, video games, etc.) are protected by copyright. You cannot repost canon material on AO3, as this is typically a violation of our copyright infringement and/or non-fanwork policies.

If you're creating a fanwork where the characters are reacting to another piece of media (such as by reading or watching the book, show, or movie that they were originally from), then that is allowed if and only if you don't include too many quotes from the original source. Even if the lines of the original book or script are broken up by the characters' reactions, you still can't reproduce more than a few lines of the original text. If you'd like to post a work in which characters read or watch another work, then we suggest heavily reducing the number and length of your quotes, and/or briefly summarizing the events they're reacting to instead of quoting directly from the original work.

Songfics with lyrics

Song lyrics are protected by copyright, which means you can't reproduce large portions of lyrics without permission. This includes both songfics where the lyrics are interspersed throughout the story text and fics with characters singing songs as part of their dialogue. If the part of the song you want to highlight is more than a few lines, we suggest instead linking to a licensed source, such as the artist's official YouTube channel.

Embedded artwork

Copyright doesn't just apply to written text, but to all types of creative work regardless of the medium. In order to embed or upload someone else's images, audio, or videos onto your AO3 account, you must have the original creator's permission and credit them appropriately.

If you don't have permission, or don't know how to credit the original creator, then we suggest instead using HTML or AO3's Inspired By feature to link directly to the creator's own original post.

Unauthorized podfics & translations

If you want to podfic or translate someone else's work, you need their permission to do so. According to United States law, audio recordings and translations are considered derivative, not transformative. AO3 welcomes fan-podficcers and fan-translators. However, your content must comply with U.S. law for us to be able to host it, which means that you must have the permission of the copyright owner in order to post your podfic or translation on AO3.

Infringing on orphaned works

Orphaning a work does not mean the original creator is giving up their copyright, even if their username is no longer displayed on the work. The only thing the original creator did when orphaning their work was agree to transfer that specific copy of their work to AO3's orphan_account.

Just like with any other work, if you wish to podfic or translate an orphaned work, you will need permission from the original creator. This can come in the form of an author's note on the work or an additional tag such as Podfic Welcome. If the work contains no such statement, and you don't know or can't find the original creator to ask for permission, then you may not podfic or translate the work.

If you plan on orphaning your works and you want to ensure that other users can continue to adapt or translate them, consider adding a permission statement to each of your works before orphaning them.

Posting public domain works

While public domain works are no longer protected by copyright, reposting someone else's work is not transformative. AO3 is an archive for fanworks and for original works created in a fannish context. Therefore, you cannot upload other people's public domain works to AO3.

However, as public domain works are not protected by copyright, some types of derivative works (such as your own translation) may be posted on AO3.

I've seen others post plagiarized or infringing works. Why can't I?

As our TOS FAQ explains, we don't review content until it's reported to us. You may have seen somebody else posting an unauthorized translation or public domain work on AO3, but that doesn't mean that it's allowed. All it means is that nobody has reported that work to us yet, or that we haven't finished processing the report.

What will happen if I get reported for plagiarism or copyright infringement?

First, we'll review the reported work and any provided sources to confirm whether or not your work contains plagiarized or infringing material. If we determine that your work is in violation, we'll send you an email telling you to remove the violating material.

If your work can be edited to fix the issue, you'll be asked to edit the work. Your work may be hidden from other users until you do. If you choose not to edit the work, or if your work cannot be edited into compliance with the TOS, it will be deleted.

PAC will only ever contact you by email, and only after we've determined that your work violates our Terms of Service. We will never comment on your work or contact you through social media. Please make sure to keep your account's email address up to date and check it regularly (including your spam folder), or else you may miss our warning email.

If you repeatedly post works that violate our copyright and/or plagiarism policies, you may be temporarily suspended. Continuing to violate the TOS will result in you being permanently banned from AO3. You can learn more about warnings and suspensions in our TOS FAQ.

What should I do if I encounter a work that contains plagiarized or infringing material?

You can give the creator a heads up by politely commenting on their work and linking to the TOS FAQ or this post. Alternatively, you can report the work to us.

How do I report a work for plagiarism or copyright infringement?

Although we ask that you do not deliberately seek out violating works to report, if you encounter one while browsing, you can report it using the Policy Questions & Abuse Reports form, which is linked at the bottom of every page on AO3. The copyright owner or their authorized legal representative can also file a DMCA claim, as explained on our DMCA Policy page.

In order for us to uphold a complaint, we need you to provide us with specific information about exactly what was copied and from where. Without these details, we may not be able to action your report.

If the work in question is no longer available online, but you have a copy of the work (such as a PDF), please say so. We may ask you to provide that copy to help us in our investigation.

Please be specific in your report. If you send us a link to an 80,000-word fic and say only "This work rips off mine!" without providing any details (such as a link to your own work), that's not enough information for us to act on. We will need to email you back asking for more information, and if you don't provide us with that information, we won't be able to investigate. If we can't verify the infringement for ourselves, then we won't take any action.

Please don't report more than one user at a time or submit multiple reports about the same user. When reporting multiple works by the same user, please submit only one report with links to each work you're reporting (correctly matched up with the original source), so that all information about that user is in the same place.

If you give us a link to one work and say "All of their other works look like plagiarism too!" without giving us details about those works or their sources, that isn't enough information for us to act on those other works. If you give us a jumbled or incomplete list of links, or if you report each work by the same user separately, this makes our volunteers' work much harder.

For example, a report might look like this:

Link to the page you are reporting: https://archiveofourown.org/works/00000000

Brief summary of Terms of Service violation: Plagiarism

Description of the content you are reporting:
This work by Ernie is plagiarized from Bert's work, "Fifty Shades of Oatmeal": https://archiveofourown.org/works/23456789

The entire thing is copied, Ernie just swapped out Elmo's name for the Count's and changed some of the colors.

If you are reporting additional works, please include all relevant links and other information in your report description:

Brief summary of Terms of Service violation: Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement

Description of the content you are reporting:
This work by Ernie is plagiarized from Bert's work, "Fifty Shades of Oatmeal": https://archiveofourown.org/works/23456789

The entire thing is copied, Ernie just swapped out Elmo's name for the Count's and changed some of the colors.

Another of Ernie's works plagiarizes from Big Bird's "If You Give a Monster a Cookie":

Ernie's work (plagiarism): https://archiveofourown.org/works/34567890
Big Bird took down their fic when they published it as an original story. Here's a link to the published version: https://www.monstercookiebooks.com/books/9876543210/if-you-give-a-monster-a-cookie

I also have a downloaded copy of the original fic I can give you if you need it.

The plagiarized section is in Ernie's chapter 2, where it starts at "Every time that Cookie Monster goes to the store, he can't resist going and picking up more chocolate chip cookies."

This is plagiarizing chapter 3 of Big Bird's work, which starts, "Whenever Cookie Monster went to the store, he couldn't resist buying more chocolate chip cookies."

The entire rest of the fic is like that, with only minor edits to each sentence. It's over ten thousand words long!

Finally, this other work contains the full lyrics of "I Love Trash" as sung by Oscar the Grouch: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45678901

Here's a link to the song on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJekxVILnhw

You can add more details if you like, but this example provides the basic information we need:

• Who posted the violating work(s): Tell us their username or if the work is anonymous or orphaned.
• Where we can find the violating work(s): Enter one URL in the "Link to the page you are reporting" field, and (if applicable) include links to any other violating works in the description of your report.
• Where we can find the original source material: Include a link to each original source and tell us what parts of the source were copied, for example by including chapter numbers or quotes from the relevant scenes.
• What violates the TOS: Explain why you think each work you're reporting is infringing and match each reported work to its original source. A set of links and a brief description of each work is fine; you don't need to be very detailed or quote an entire page.

You'll receive an automatic email confirming that we received your report, and our volunteers will investigate when they get a chance. Please be patient and do not submit another report about the same incident. While PAC investigates every report we receive, it can take several months for us to process a report, and not every report will receive a reply.

What if I have more questions about plagiarism and copyright infringement?

PAC follows a strict confidentiality policy. Therefore, while you are welcome to ask general questions in the comments of this post, we will not give information on specific cases, publicly rule on a work, or update you on the status of a report you have already submitted. Comments on this post that discuss specific works or users will be removed.

If you think you've found a plagiarized or infringing work, or if you want to know whether a particular work qualifies as plagiarism and/or copyright infringement, please report the work to us as described above. For more information, you can read our TOS FAQ on Copyright Infringement and Plagiarism.

If you are still uncertain, you can comment below or submit a question through the Policy Questions & Abuse Reports form.

ETA: Edited to improve wording

Would you like to wrangle AO3 tags? Can you read and translate from Indonesian to English? Can you read and translate from Russian to English? Are you interested in actively contributing to the creation and maintenance of a safer volunteering environment within the OTW? Would you like to help your fellow fans use AO3? Are you fluent in Chinese? If you answered "yes" to any of these, you’re in luck: the OTW is recruiting!

We're excited to announce the opening of applications for:

• Tag Wrangling Volunteer - closing 25 June 2025 at 23:59 UTC [or after 130 applications]
• Tag Wrangling (Indonesian) Volunteer - closing 25 June 2025 at 23:59 UTC [or after 30 applications]
• Tag Wrangling (Russian) Volunteer - closing 25 June 2025 at 23:59 UTC [or after 30 applications]
• Internal Complaint and Conflict Resolution Volunteer - closing 25 June 2025 at 23:59 UTC
• Support Volunteer - closing 25 June 2025 at 23:59 UTC [or after 30 applications]
• Support (Chinese) Volunteer - closing 25 June 2025 at 23:59 UTC [or after 30 applications]

We have included more information on each role below. Open roles and applications will always be available at the volunteering page. If you don't see a role that fits with your skills and interests now, keep an eye on the listings. We plan to put up new applications every few weeks, and we will also publicize new roles as they become available.

All applications generate a confirmation page and an auto-reply to your e-mail address. We encourage you to read the confirmation page and to whitelist our email address in your e-mail client. If you do not receive the auto-reply within 24 hours, please check your spam filters and then contact us.

If you have questions regarding volunteering for the OTW, check out our Volunteering FAQ.

Tag Wrangling Volunteer

The Tag Wranglers are responsible for helping to connect and sort the tags on AO3! Wranglers follow internal guidelines to choose the tags that appear in the filters and auto-complete, which link related works together. This makes it easier to browse and search on the archive.

If you’re an experienced AO3 user who likes organizing, working in teams, or having excuses to fact-check your favorite fandoms, you might enjoy tag wrangling! To join us, click through to the job description and fill in our application form. There will also be a short questionnaire that will help us assess whether you have the skills and attributes that will lead to your success in this role.

Please note: you must be 18+ in order to apply for this role. For this role, we’re currently looking for wranglers for specific fandoms only, which will change each recruitment round. Please see the application for which fandoms are in need.

Wranglers need to be fluent in English but we welcome applicants who are also fluent in other languages, especially Čeština (Czech), Español (Spanish), isiZulu (Zulu), Italiano (Italian), Polski (Polish), Português brasileiro (Brazilian Portuguese), Suomi (Finnish), Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese), Türkçe (Turkish), Українська (Ukrainian), ไทย (Thai), беларуская (Belarusian), 한국어 (Korean) and 中文 (Chinese - we welcome all dialects) — but help with other languages would be much appreciated!

Applications are due 25 June 2025 [or after 130 applications]

Apply for Tag Wrangling Volunteer at the volunteering page! If you have further questions, please contact us.

Tag Wrangling (Indonesian) Volunteer

The Tag Wranglers are responsible for helping to connect and sort the tags on AO3! Wranglers follow internal guidelines to choose the tags that appear in the filters and auto-complete, which link related works together. This makes it easier to browse and search on the archive.

If you’re an experienced AO3 user who likes organizing, working in teams, or having excuses to fact-check your favorite fandoms, you might enjoy tag wrangling! To join us, click through to the job description and fill in our application form. There will also be a short questionnaire that will help us assess whether you have the skills and attributes that will lead to your success in this role.

Please note: you must be 18+ in order to apply for this role. For this role we’re currently looking for applicants who are fluent in both English and Indonesian. We welcome all Indonesian dialects. The work will involve both regular Tag Wrangling work and translating tags from Indonesian into English.

Applications are due 25 June 2025 [or after 30 applications]

Apply for Tag Wrangling (Indonesian) Volunteer at the volunteering page! If you have further questions, please contact us.

Tag Wrangling (Russian) Volunteer

The Tag Wranglers are responsible for helping to connect and sort the tags on AO3! Wranglers follow internal guidelines to choose the tags that appear in the filters and auto-complete, which link related works together. This makes it easier to browse and search on the archive.

If you’re an experienced AO3 user who likes organizing, working in teams, or having excuses to fact-check your favorite fandoms, you might enjoy tag wrangling! To join us, click through to the job description and fill in our application form. There will also be a short questionnaire that will help us assess whether you have the skills and attributes that will lead to your success in this role.

Please note: you must be 18+ in order to apply for this role. For this role we’re currently looking for applicants who are fluent in both English and Russian. We welcome all Russian dialects. The work will involve both regular Tag Wrangling work and translating tags from Russian into English.

Applications are due 25 June 2025 [or after 30 applications]

Apply for Tag Wrangling (Russian) Volunteer at the volunteering page! If you have further questions, please contact us.

Internal Complaint and Conflict Resolution Volunteer

Are you passionate about fostering a safer and more supportive volunteering environment within the OTW?

As an Internal Complaint and Conflict Resolution ("ICCR") volunteer, you will play a key role in maintaining fair and respectful interactions across the Organization. Your work will include reviewing, investigating, and adjudicating complaints, and mediating conflicts. Our team is also in the process of refining the OTW's policies to create a more effective and inclusive volunteer experience. Our goal is to serve as an objective, neutral party for personnel-related issues to help resolve situations with compassion and equity.

Please note that due to the nature of the work, current OTW volunteers who apply for the role will have to resign from all other roles within the OTW to serve on this subcommittee.

Applications are due 25 June 2025

Apply for Internal Complaint and Conflict Resolution Volunteer at the volunteering page! If you have further questions, please contact us.

Support Volunteer

The Support team is responsible for handling the feedback and requests for assistance we receive from users of the Archive of Our Own. We answer users' questions, help to resolve problems they're experiencing, and pass on information to and from coders, testers, tag wranglers and other teams involved with AO3. If you enjoy helping others to learn how to use AO3 and figuring out solutions to problems, you might enjoy being a Support volunteer!

Applications are due 25 June 2025 [or after 40 applications]

Apply for Support Volunteer at the volunteering page! If you have further questions, please contact us.

Support Volunteer (Chinese)

The Support team is responsible for handling the feedback and requests for assistance we receive from users of the Archive of Our Own. We answer users' questions, help to resolve problems they're experiencing, and pass on information to and from coders, testers, tag wranglers and other teams involved with AO3.

We're currently recruiting for applicants who are fluent in both English and Chinese (We welcome all Chinese dialects!). If you are a fluent Chinese speaker who enjoys helping others to learn how to use AO3 and figuring out solutions to problems, you might enjoy being a Support volunteer!

Applications are due 25 June 2025 [or after 40 applications]

Apply for Support Volunteer (Chinese) at the volunteering page! If you have further questions, please contact us.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan-run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

The Policy & Abuse committee (PAC) is responsible for enforcing the AO3 Terms of Service (TOS). To help users better understand the TOS, we're posting a weekly spotlight series about the TOS and our policies. We'll also be reading comments and answering questions on this and our other spotlight posts.

Today's post from the Policy & Abuse committee is about harassment. As stated in Section II.H of our Terms of Service, "Harassment is any behavior that produces a generally hostile environment for its target. Examples include bullying, threats, and personal attacks by or towards individuals or groups of people."

Harassment is not tolerated on AO3 in any form—regardless of whether it occurs in works, tags, comments, usernames, pseuds, profiles, icons, or any other type of content.

What qualifies as harassment?

Threats and insults

When directed towards other users, threats and insults constitute harassment, and we will act on them if reported to us. This includes when phrases such as "X/Y shippers are creeps" are present in work tags or summaries.

Severe harassment

Some harassment is severe enough that it creates a hostile environment not just for the target, but for anyone who witnesses it. Engaging in severe harassment will result in harsher penalties.

The following are all considered to be severe harassment when directed towards other AO3 users:

• Death threats/wishes
• Threats of violence/bodily harm
• Slurs directed at other users
• Self-harm/suicide baiting (suggesting that someone should hurt or kill themselves)
• Doxxing or threats of doxxing (connecting a user's non-public, personally identifying information to their online handle)

Anyone can report these, whether or not they're the primary victim. PAC will remove all instances of severe harassment that are reported to us.

Call-out posts

A call-out is when someone posts a work (or a chapter or author's note) that criticizes someone for their behavior in an attempt to draw public attention to that person.

We consider call-out posts to be harassment. If you see a call-out post, whether or not it is targeted at you, you can report it to us. Call-out posts are not allowed, regardless of what the target of the call-out has done.

If you encounter someone who has violated the AO3 Terms of Service, please don't post a call-out and violate the TOS yourself. Instead, we recommend that you submit an Abuse report and use AO3's blocking and muting features to avoid that person.

Interacting after being blocked

A blocked user is expected to cease all interaction with the person who blocked them. We consider attempting to "get around" a block to be harassment. If you've blocked someone and think they're evading your block, you can report them to us.

What does not qualify as harassment?

Offensive content

What's considered offensive and unacceptable varies from person to person. AO3 hosts a wide range of content that many users find to be offensive, and in our last post, we discussed some of the ways you can avoid such content.

You may not leave comments attacking the creator of a work you find offensive.

You can mute the user so you don't see any of their works, bookmarks, or comments. If you want to make sure they can't communicate with you, you should also block them.

Criticism

We don't consider criticism of a work, constructive or otherwise, to be harassment in and of itself. Offensive opinions and comments that aren't direct personal attacks are also not harassment (for example, expressing negative views about celebrities or the content of a work).

If somebody says your work is bad, that's an opinion about your work, not a personal attack against you. However, repeatedly leaving negative comments in a short period of time, pressuring you to delete your work, or encouraging others to engage in similar behavior could be considered harassment depending on the circumstances.

Arguments

People are allowed to argue or disagree with your opinions. Argument is not harassment, and PAC will not intervene simply because users are arguing with or being rude to each other. If someone in the argument is using personal attacks, you can report them to us, but in general, PAC does not mediate disputes between users. If you want to end an argument, you should tell that person you will not respond further; if necessary, you can also block them.

If you are a bystander witnessing an argument rather than one of the participants, then we are unlikely to uphold your complaint unless someone is engaging in severe harassment. When it comes to rude or moderately antagonistic comment exchanges, we rarely act on third-party reports.

Do Not Interact (DNI) requests

Requesting that someone does not interact with you is not harassment in itself, but it may be considered harassment if paired with an insult or threat (for example, "DNI you weirdos who ship this" or "no incest lovers allowed I will stomp you all to death with my hooves").

If you want someone to stop interacting with you, you should block them. If you never want to encounter them again, you can also mute them.

What should I do if I'm getting harassing comments on my works?

PAC tries to prioritize urgent reports such as harassment, but there will always be a delay while we investigate and take action. We recommend that you immediately block any registered user who harasses you. We also recommend that you enable one or more of the Privacy options on your work(s) while you wait for our response.

To edit the Privacy options on your work, select the "Edit" button, then navigate to the "Privacy" section. If you want to edit the Privacy options on multiple works at once, you can do so easily using our "Edit Multiple Works" tool.

Changing your Privacy options does not have to be permanent; you can update them at any time. If you're being harassed, we recommend changing your Privacy options at least for a short period of time.

The options available to you in the Privacy section are as follows:

Only show your work to registered users

You can use this feature to lock your work so only registered users can see it. If you are the victim of a mass-harassment campaign, this will prevent "drive-by" comments from guest users. Works that have been restricted to AO3 users will have a blue lock symbol displayed next to the title and are not accessible to guest users.

Enable comment moderation

Comment moderation prevents any new comments (from both registered users and guests) from being publicly displayed on your work until you approve them. If you don't approve a particular comment, then it will not be made public. PAC volunteers are able to see unreviewed/unapproved comments, so you can report a harassing comment without marking it as approved.

If you're being harassed by a guest user but don't want to disable anonymous comments entirely, you can use comment moderation to prevent harassing guest comments from appearing on your work.

If the harassment was posted by a registered user, comment moderation can help too. It not only prevents their comments from being shown to others, but also makes it easier for us to investigate, as long as you leave their comments unapproved and don't delete them yourself.

Who can comment on this work

There are three comment settings:

1. Registered users and guests can comment: Anyone can comment, including guests. (Note: If your work is restricted to registered users, guest users won't be able to access it and therefore cannot comment even if this option is enabled.)
2. Only registered users can comment: This is the default option. Only logged-in users can comment on your work, while guests and logged-out users cannot.
3. No one can comment: This will disable all new comments on your work, regardless of whether the user is logged in or a guest.

Changing these settings will not affect any existing comments.

Archive locking, comment moderation, and comment restriction can all be used in conjunction with each other. For example, you can enable comment moderation and set your work to only allow registered users to comment at the same time. This means you won't receive any guest comments at all, and comments from registered users will have to be manually approved.

What should I do if I encounter harassing content on AO3?

You can report harassment through the Policy Questions & Abuse Reports form, which is linked at the bottom of every page on AO3. If you wish to avoid future contact from a registered user, we recommend blocking and muting them.

If the harassing content has been deleted, we generally won't be able to investigate unless you're able to provide screenshots or other copies of the harassing content. While it's not possible to upload images to our reporting form, you can include links to images hosted on third-party sites in your report description. You can also specify in your report that you saved copies of the harassment, which we may ask you to provide in our initial response to your report.

How do I report harassing comments?

Comments can be reported through the Policy Questions & Abuse Reports form like all other content on AO3. You can get the direct link to a specific comment by selecting the "Thread" button on the comment and copying the URL of that page, or by clicking on the link in your email or AO3 inbox.

If you're reporting moderated comments, you don't have to approve the comments or link every single comment in your report—just give us the link to your work's unreviewed comments page, and specify which comment(s) you're reporting (if you have a lot of unapproved comments).

Please don't submit multiple reports about the same user. When reporting multiple works or comments by the same user, please submit only one report with links to everything you're reporting, so that all information about that user is in the same place. If the harassment is ongoing, you can turn on comment moderation—if you mention that you've done so and link your work's unreviewed comments page in your report, we'll check that page for any new harassing comments submitted, without you needing to file an additional report.

For example, a report of a harassing comment might look like this:

Link to the page you are reporting: https://archiveofourown.org/comments/000000000

Brief summary of Terms of Service violation: Harassment

Description of the content you are reporting:
USERNAME went on a slur-filled rant in this comment on my work.

If you are reporting additional comments, please include all relevant links and other information in your report description:

Brief summary of Terms of Service violation: Harassment (repeated nasty comments and block evasion)

Description of the content you are reporting:
USERNAME went on a slur-filled rant in this comment on my work.

After I froze the thread, they commented with more slurs and insults here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1234/comments/123456789

I blocked them and turned on comment moderation but then they commented again as a guest: https://archiveofourown.org/ works/1234/comments/234567890

I have screenshots and copies of the email notifications if you need them.

A report of a harassing work might look like this:

Link to the page you are reporting: https://archiveofourown.org/works/00000000

Brief summary of Terms of Service violation: Harassment in tags and notes

Description of the content you are reporting:
USERNAME has a harassing tag: "go away x/y freaks or i'll call the cops"

And in the end notes they have more harassment: "incest lovers do not comment or I will slice your toes off"

If you are reporting additional works or comments that are part of the same incident, please include all relevant links and other information in your report description:

Description of the content you are reporting:
USERNAME has a harassing tag: "go away x/y freaks or i'll call the cops"

And in the end notes they have more harassment: "incest lovers do not comment or I will slice your toes off"

One of their other works (https://archiveofourown.org/works/23456789) also has harassment and I think is not a fanwork? It's a long rant about why x/y shippers are idiots.

The comments of this work are full of harassment, mostly by guests, but the creator calls a bunch of people pedophiles in these threads:
https://archiveofourown.org/comments/123456789
https://archiveofourown.org/comments/234567890

In the second thread linked above, there's also a "kys" (kill yourself) comment by USERNAME2, which the creator responds to with "u first".

You can add more details if you like, but these examples provide the basic information we need:

• Who posted the harassing content: Tell us their username(s) or if the comment(s) or work(s) are anonymous or orphaned.
• Where we can find the harassing content: Enter one URL in the "Link to the page you are reporting" field, and (if applicable) include links to any other violating works or comment threads in the description of your report.
• What violates the TOS: Explain why you think harassment has occurred, for example by including a quote and/or providing context for a comment exchange. A brief description of the situation is fine; you don't need to be very detailed or quote an entire TOS or FAQ section.

You'll receive an automatic email confirming that we received your report, and our volunteers will investigate when they get a chance. Please be patient and do not submit another report about the same incident. While PAC investigates every report we receive, it can take several months for us to process a report.

What if I have more questions about harassment?

PAC follows a strict confidentiality policy. Therefore, while you are welcome to ask general questions in the comments of this post, we will not give information on specific cases, publicly rule on a work, or update you on the status of a report you have already submitted. Comments on this post that discuss specific works or users will be removed.

If you are being harassed, think you've found harassing content, or if you want to know whether a particular work or comment qualifies as harassment, please report the work(s) or comment(s) to us as described above. For more information, you can read our TOS FAQ on harassment.

If you are still uncertain, you can comment below or submit a question through the Policy Questions & Abuse Reports form.

Absolution - The Inugrrrl Memorial, an InuYasha fanfiction memorial archive, is being imported to the Archive of Our Own (AO3).

Inugrrrl was a longtime fan and fanfiction writer of InuYasha and the InuYasha/Kagome pairing. In her own words, she was known for “writing characterization-breaking, smut-filled, angst-riddled, alternate universe pulp fiction without a hint of shame, regret, or apology.” She was active in the fanbase from 2005-2024. Inugrrrl tragically passed away in June of 2024 and her daughter wished for her mother’s fanworks to remain online for the fanbase to enjoy.

Open Doors will be working with Rinikioi, Inugrrrl’s best friend, to import her personal archive, Absolution, into a separate memorial account on the Archive of Our Own.

We will begin importing works by Inugrrrl to the AO3 after May. You will find them on the inugrrrl_memorial account.

Inugrrrl also had a collection of fanfiction gifted to her by friends and fellow fans. Open Doors will be importing these works into a separate collection.

What does this mean for creators who wrote fic for Inugrrrl?

Please contact Open Doors with your fannish pseud(s), if:

• You'd like us to import your works and need a claim request sent to your email address.
• You already have an AO3 account and have imported your works already yourself.
• You’d like to import your works yourself (including if you don’t have an AO3 account yet).
• You would NOT like your works moved to the AO3, or would NOT like your works added to the archive collection.
• You are happy for us to preserve your works on the AO3, but would like us to remove your name.
• You have any other questions we can help you with.

We will begin importing works gifted to Inugrrrl to the AO3 after June.

We'd love it if readers who were familiar with her fannish activities could help us document Inugrrrl’s fannish involvement on Fanlore. If you're new to wiki editing, no worries! Check out the new visitor portal, or ask the Fanlore Gardeners for tips.

We're honored to be able to help preserve the works of Inugrrrl, and while we mourn her loss, we also realize that we are fortunate that she had a friend who was given permission to collect and preserve her works on the AO3 so that they will not be lost. Thinking about the death of a fandom friend may be difficult, but it can also be an opportunity to consider what will happen to your fanworks and accounts and those of your friends after your deaths. The Archive of Our Own has an option to name a Fannish Next of Kin, someone who would be able to gain access to your accounts in the case of your death or incapacitation. By naming someone who can act on your behalf, you can decide ahead of time how you want your AO3 accounts handled going into the future.

- The Open Doors team and Rinikioi

The Policy & Abuse committee (PAC) is responsible for enforcing the AO3 Terms of Service (TOS). To help users better understand the TOS, we're posting a weekly spotlight series about the TOS and our policies. We'll also be reading comments and answering questions on this and our other spotlight posts.

Over 15% of all complaints that PAC receives each year are about content that users consider offensive but does not violate the AO3 Terms of Service. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Fictional depictions of societally taboo topics, immoral behaviors, or crimes (such as bestiality, child sexual abuse, incest, and rape)
• Fiction that contains or promotes offensive and/or oppressive viewpoints
• RPF (real person fiction) that contains explicit content or portrays people in a negative light
• Explicit fanworks for canons whose creators have said they dislike explicit content

Offensive fanworks are not against the AO3 Terms of Service, and PAC will not remove fanworks simply for being offensive.

AO3 is a home for all fanworks

AO3 operates under the principle of maximum inclusiveness of fanwork content. We will not make moral judgements about a work: if it's a legal fanwork that does not violate any of our policies, we will not remove it from AO3.

Don't report works for being objectionable or offensive. If you wish to avoid certain content when browsing AO3, you can use the tools discussed below.

Why does AO3 allow fanworks about content that is illegal where I live?

There is a difference between fictional content about acts that would be illegal if performed in real life, and content that is itself illegal to post or access in a particular jurisdiction.

AO3's Terms of Service are designed to comply with United States law (specifically, the laws of Manhattan, New York). It is legal in the U.S. to create and share fictional content about murder, theft, assault, or other such crimes. It is also generally legal in the U.S. to create and share fictional content about topics such as bestiality, child sexual abuse, incest, and rape. AO3 allows users to post and access fiction about all of these topics.

In accordance with U.S. law, AO3 prohibits sexually explicit photographs, videos, and other photorealistic images of children (also known as Child Sexual Abuse Material, or CSAM). This includes embedded images, links, and any attempts to solicit, distribute, or otherwise obtain or provide access to such material – whether in a work, comment, or anywhere else on AO3.

However, stories and non-photorealistic artwork (such as drawings or cartoons) that depict sexual activity involving characters under the age of eighteen are allowed, provided that the works are properly rated and warned. Even if the work features real people, fiction about real people is still fiction, and therefore it is allowed on AO3.

Depending on where you live, the laws that apply to you may be more restrictive than the ones described above. All users are responsible for following the laws that apply to them. If certain content that is allowed on AO3 is illegal for you to access, then you should ensure you carefully observe all relevant ratings and warnings, and use the tools discussed below to avoid accessing any work that indicates it may contain such content.

What about other explicit or suggestive photorealistic images?

Photographic or photorealistic images of humans may not be used to illustrate works featuring underage sexual content (regardless of whether the images themselves are explicit in nature). This includes (but is not limited to) photographs of children, porn gifs, photo manipulations, computer-generated or "AI" images, and other linked or embedded images that could potentially be mistaken for photographs of real humans.

If the work appears to feature underage sexual content (as indicated by the "Underage Sex" Archive warning or other contextual markers present in the work's tags, notes, or text), then PAC may require all photographic or photorealistic images of humans, regardless of their perceived age, to be removed from the work.

If your work does not feature underage sexual content, or if the images are not photorealistic, then please read our Terms of Service FAQ: Can I embed explicit images in my fanworks?

Real Person Fiction (RPF)

RPF is fiction based on real people. AO3 does not consider RPF works (in and of themselves) to be harassment of the individuals represented in the works. RPF works are allowed on AO3, even if they contain explicit content, negatively portray their subjects, or are about individuals who are minors and/or not well-known.

However, harassment and doxxing are both prohibited under our Terms of Service. This means that we do not allow works that advocate for actual harm to be done to a real person, nor do we allow works that disclose non-public information about a real person.

Fiction is generally permitted to include public information such as age, profession, city of residence, media or "stage" names, and publicly known legal names. However, if someone uses a pseudonym that they have not linked to their legal name, you're not allowed to post content that links the two.

What if the creator of a canon states that they dislike explicit fanworks or don't want people to create fanworks based on them or their work?

Creators are free to dislike fanworks, explicit or otherwise. However, AO3 holds the position that transformative fanworks are legal under United States law, and do not require the original creator's permission to be posted. If a fanwork does not otherwise violate our Terms of Service, then that fanwork is allowed on AO3.

I don't want to see certain kinds of works. How can I avoid them?

We want all our users to enjoy using AO3, but each user is responsible for their own browsing experience. If you encounter a work that upsets you, please leave the work, and use the following tools to manage your browsing experience and avoid seeing it again.

Tag exclusion filters

AO3 has an extensive tagging system. Tags can be used to filter out works when you are browsing a tag or using the work search function.

As discussed in our post about ratings and warnings, all works containing adult content must be rated "Mature", "Explicit", or "Not Rated". If you don't want to encounter adult content, you can use filters to exclude all works with these ratings. If you encounter a work rated "General" or "Teen" that has explicit content, you can report it to PAC.

In addition, all fanworks that contain underage sexual activity, rape/non-consensual sex, graphic violence, or major character death must be labeled with the respective Archive warning or the "Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings" label. Much like ratings, you can use filters to exclude any or all Archive warnings (including "Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings"). If you encounter a work that is missing an Archive warning, you can report it to PAC.

Creators frequently apply relationship and additional tags to indicate other kinds of warnings or content. All of these tags can also be used to exclude works. When a tag is excluded, any tags that are linked to it as synonyms or subtags will also be excluded. For example, if you exclude the "Child Abuse" tag, works that are tagged with "Canonical Child Abuse", "Abused Children", etc., will also be excluded, even though they don't use the exact tag "child abuse".

How to use tag exclusion filters

To exclude a tag using the filters sidebar:

1. You can get to any canonical tag's works page by clicking on a tag, either directly on a work or by using Tag Search.
2. Open the filters sidebar. On a large screen, it'll automatically be visible on the right-hand side of the screen. On a small screen, select the "Filters" button to make it appear.
3. Navigate to the "Exclude" section.
4. You can expand each tag type to see the most common tags used on works in your search results. If the tag you want to exclude is listed, select the X next to it.
5. If you're trying to exclude a Fandom, Character, Relationship, or Additional tag that is not one of the most common tags, type the tag into the "Other tags to exclude" box.
6. Select the "Sort and Filter" button at the bottom of the sidebar. This will apply the chosen search filters to the list of works you can see, removing any works with the tags you've excluded.

Exclude by keyword search

In addition to using tags to exclude content, you can exclude a keyword or phrase by inserting a minus sign in front of it in the "Search within results" box. Doing so will mean that any works which contain your keyword or phrase in their metadata will not show up in your results. Metadata includes the title, creator, tags, summary, and beginning and end notes, but it does not include content in the body of the work or individual chapter notes.

In addition to excluding specific keywords, you can also use this method to avoid works created by a particular user: just type -creators:USERNAME into the search box. You can filter out multiple creators at a time by typing this same command multiple times, separated by commas or spaces (for example, -creators:USERNAME1,-creators:USERNAME2).

If you're browsing a work tag, then you can exclude keywords using the filters bar. Type your keyword exclusion into the "Search within results" box, then select "Sort and Filter".

If you're using Work Search, use the "Author/Artist" field to filter out works by a particular user. You can also filter them out from "Any Field": if you do that, you'll catch not just any works they've created, but also any works created by someone else where their username is mentioned in the tags, summary, notes, or other metadata.

Permanently avoid seeing specific users or works

If there is a user that you never want to see again, you can mute them. Muting a user means that you will no longer see works or bookmarks they've created, other users' bookmarks of their works, or comments they've left on AO3. To mute a user, simply select the Mute button on their profile page.

Muting a user will result in a banner at the top of every work search results page. If you want to hide this banner, you can add a site skin that includes p.muted.notice {display: none;}. Site skins customize the way AO3 looks to you while you're logged in.

You can also use site skins to hide specific works that you don't want to see. Once set up, your site skin will be active whenever you're logged into your account on any device.

To use a site skin to hide a particular work:

1. Find the work ID. The work ID is the number in the URL immediately after /works/
2. While logged into your account, go to archiveofourown.org/skins
3. Select "Create Site Skin" (or edit your skin if you're already using one)
4. In the CSS box, type .work-000 {display: none !important;}, replacing "000" with the ID of the work you want to mute
5. To mute multiple works, use a comma-separated list: .work-000, .work-111, .work-222 {display: none !important;}
6. Save or update your skin. If it's new (or if you weren't already using it), you'll also need to select the button labelled "Use"

If you need help creating or using skins, filters, work searches, or any other AO3 feature, please contact Support.

Can I permanently block a tag or have a persistent filter?

Unfortunately, it's not currently possible to save a set of tags or search exclusions directly on AO3, although you may be able to find third-party tools or site skin instructions to help you do this. AO3 doesn't have those kinds of built-in persistent filters: every time you open a new search page or works list, the filters will be reset. However, if you run a search using filters, you can bookmark the results page in your browser. The bookmarked page will keep the same search and filter settings when you return to it later.

What if I have more questions about offensive content?

PAC follows a strict confidentiality policy. Therefore, while you are welcome to ask general questions in the comments of this post, we will not give information on specific cases, publicly rule on a work, or update you on the status of a report you have already submitted. Comments on this post that discuss specific works or users will be removed.

For more information, you can read our TOS FAQ on offensive content vs illegal content.

If you are still uncertain, you can comment below or submit a question through the Policy Questions & Abuse Reports form.

I. 200 NEWSLETTERS

This month marks the 200th edition of the OTW Newsletter! Starting in February 2012, the newsletter has consistently provided updates on committees across the OTW. Over time, the newsletter's format has grown and shifted, settling into the format used today.

If you're curious, older newsletter editions can be found on AO3 News and the OTW website! Thank you so much for supporting the OTW and our projects. Here's to many more!

II. ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN

Policy & Abuse is currently running a weekly spotlight series about the AO3 Terms of Service. These news posts have been highlighting various nuances of AO3's policies, and Policy & Abuse has been coordinating with Communications' News Post Moderation subcommittee to answer follow-up questions in the comments.

AO3 reached 15 million fanworks in May! Communications published a news post to celebrate.

Also in May, Accessibility, Design, & Technology deployed a few enhancements related to username and password changes, as well as fixed some longstanding bugs in tag sets. Systems is preparing to mount new servers, after which they'll be able to get them up and running for AO3.

Open Doors announced the import of Homosapien Press: the publisher of multi-fandom fanzines such as Samurai Errant, Homosapien, and Pure Maple Syrup. They also completed the import of Slash Advent Calendar and Snow Lands. Lastly, they launched a way for archivists and publishers to designate a Fannish Next of Kin to take over collection management post-import.

In April, Policy & Abuse received 2,734 tickets, while Support received 3,003 tickets. Tag Wrangling wrangled just over 490,000 tags, or approximately 1,100 tags per wrangling volunteer.

III. ELSEWHERE AT THE OTW

Fanlore's annual Fanlore Bingo Challenge is in full swing! This year the event is running from June 2 to June 15, and the bingo is beach themed. All Fanlore visitors and editors, new and old alike, are invited to participate!

Fanlore also celebrated May with a themed month: Creature Feature! Their editing chat on the Fanlore Discord server was a big success; thank you to everyone who joined. You can check out Creature Feature highlights on Fanlore's Tumblr.

Translation's recent recruitment led to the addition of a new translation team for Irish! User Response Translation's first ever recruitment has also concluded.

Transformative Works and Cultures continues to seek submissions for their upcoming special issue on Latin American Fandoms. The deadline for submissions is January 1, 2026.

IV. GOVERNANCE

Elections announced the 2025 Election Timeline in coordination with Communications and Translation. Candidates will be announced on June 22, and the deadline to become a member for voting is June 30.

Development & Membership is continuing to send donation gifts from April's Membership Drive. They're also starting to work on membership queries for the 2025 election and related mini-Drive in June.

Board, with the help of the Board Assistants Team, held a public board meeting on April 26, 2025. The meeting had 74 attendees, and Board answered 10 questions live and 7 questions asynchronously after the meeting. Meeting minutes are available on the OTW website.

Board also approved the creation of the Organizational Culture Roadmap workgroup, continued work on Crisis Procedures and Paid Staff Transition projects, and met with the Cybersecurity Delegate to discuss their report and next steps. The Board Assistants Team continued work on multiple ongoing projects, including updates to the Board Discord moderation guidelines, OTW roadmap goals, and non-profit training.

Lastly, Board announced the resignation of Zixin Zhang as a Board Director. We wish Zixin all the best in her future endeavors.

V. OUR VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers & Recruiting conducted recruitment for three committees this month: Fanlore, Finance, and Open Doors. Volunteers & Recruiting also began a large-scale project regarding their procedures on inductions and removals. This project aims to ensure documentation is consistent across all roles in the OTW, focusing especially on tools managed by Volunteers & Recruiting.

From April 21 to May 18, Volunteers & Recruiting received 154 new requests and completed 149, leaving them with 36 open requests (including inductions and removals listed below).

As of May 18, 2025, the OTW has 933 volunteers. \o/

New AO3 Documentation Volunteers: 1 Editor
New Open Doors Volunteers: Fandoms_addict and 1 other Admin Volunteer
New Policy & Abuse Volunteers: BlackTeaAndVodka, WonderfulWorld, Pent,­ and 1 other Policy & Abuse Volunteer
New Strategic Planning Volunteers: Everett Merian and Camilla Zhao
New Support Volunteers: 1 Tag Wrangling Liaison
New Tag Wrangling Volunteers: Ebonwing, Jazzberries, Keladry, megidola, and Tal (Tag Wrangling Supervisors)
New Translation Volunteers: Bluebear, flatlander woman, Lavinia, Mici Pici, ömer faruk, Somber, and 3 other Translation Volunteers
New TWC Volunteers: 1 Symposium Editor
New User Response Translation Volunteers: Ekevka, meat, Patkiecoo, Remu, and 4 other URT Translators

Departing AO3 Documentation Volunteers: 1 Editor
Departing Communications Volunteers: 1 Chair-Track Volunteer and 1 TikTok Moderator
Departing Fanlore Volunteers: 1 Policy and Admin Volunteer
Departing Open Doors Volunteers: Fandoms_addict (Import Assistant) and 3 other Import Assistants, and 1 Technical Volunteer
Departing Support Volunteers: 1 Support Volunteer
Departing Tag Wrangling Volunteers: Eirinen, Luhba, Vyslanté, and 2 other Tag Wrangling Volunteers
Departing Translation Volunteers: D.Taradi, dhriti, hedvig, Mai, Meep, and 4 other Translation Volunteers

For more information about our committees and their regular activities, you can refer to the committee pages on our website.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan-run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

Every month or so the OTW will be doing a Q&A with one of its volunteers about their experiences in the organization. The posts express each volunteer's personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. Today's post is with Mille K, who volunteers in the Support Committee.

How does what you do as a volunteer fit into what the OTW does?

So, as the blurb said, I'm a volunteer for the OTW’s Support branch, which I've been doing since May 2024! I'm sure other Support volunteers have explained this far more eloquently in the past, but we basically help users with a wide variety of things. If you want to ask how to change your password, we're the people to ask. If you run into some kind of error, shoot us a message. If a work has been tagged with the wrong language, that's also us! Basically, we help the OTW-machine run smoothly.

What is a typical week like for you as a volunteer?
Personally, that depends from week to week! We don't send out responses to users until another volunteer has read it over and given it the go-ahead (known as betaing), so some weeks I get a lot of my own tickets done, other weeks I prefer focusing on betaing for others! I like to work while I'm drinking something and listening to music, just to make it a bit more cozy. (My music of choice is Citypop and soundtracks to anime and games!)

What made you decide to volunteer?
To put it very simply, AO3/the OTW has done so much for me, and I wanted to give back. It's been amazing for my personal growth to have a place to meet like-minded people, to post my works to, to read works that have moved me in some form… and then to get to help it run is an amazing experience!

What has been your biggest challenge doing work for the OTW?
Probably having to learn so many new things, like how to use all of our tools, or all of the internal phrasing. It's definitely been challenging to pick all of that up, but it's also been super fun, and everyone else has been incredible so far!

What fannish things do you like to do?
I mainly read and write fanfic! I also enjoy art immensely, although I can't for the life of me make it myself. I also participate in online events from time to time, such as bangs, fests, exchanges, and online cons!

Now that our volunteer’s said five things about what they do, it’s your turn to ask one more thing! Feel free to ask about their work in the comments. Or if you'd like, you can check out earlier Five Things posts.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan-run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

The Policy & Abuse committee (PAC) is responsible for enforcing the AO3 Terms of Service (TOS). To help users better understand the TOS, we're posting a weekly spotlight series about the TOS and our policies. We'll also be reading comments and answering questions on this and our other spotlight posts.

Last week’s post was on ratings and Archive warnings. This week, we'll discuss the other kinds of tags that we enforce, as well as the ones that we don't. At the end of this post, we'll provide details on the info that we need included in an incorrect tag report in order to be able to handle it as quickly and efficiently as possible. Although these are minor policy infractions, investigating them can take us a very long time to investigate if the report doesn't contain enough information.

Don't go looking for things to report.

Please do not start searching for incorrectly tagged works to report after reading this post. We know that incorrectly tagged works are a problem on AO3. However, when people deliberately search for works to report, we end up getting a lot of duplicate tickets about works that have already been reported. Every ticket we receive is reviewed by a PAC volunteer, so we only need one report in order to investigate an issue. We know it seems like sites only respond to mass reports, but on AO3, duplicate and mass reports increase the time it takes our volunteers to investigate.

Not all tags are required

Every work on AO3 must have at least one rating, Archive warning, fandom, and language tag. If these tags are used incorrectly, then PAC (or, as we'll discuss below, the Support committee) may intervene. We discussed ratings and warnings in our last post, and we'll explain what we mean by "incorrect" fandom and language tags below.

All other types of tags, such as category, character, relationship, and additional tags, are optional. Our rules for those kinds of tags are much looser. You're not required to use them if you don't want to, and PAC does not enforce the accuracy of these tags.

Fandom tags

Every work must have at least one fandom tag, and some may even have more than one. You are not required to tag every fandom that appears in your work. However, you should not use fandom tags for fandom content that does not appear in your work.

For example, if you're planning a one-shot anthology for multiple fandoms, you should only add a particular fandom tag after the relevant chapter for that fandom has been posted. Please don't include a fandom tag if you haven't yet added any content from that fandom to your work.

We take a pretty broad view of what counts as "fandom content", and we generally defer to the creator's judgement. We don't intervene in cases where franchise or sub-franchise tags have been used. For example, if Darth Vader shows up in your work, you're allowed to tag it with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), even if your work is primarily about the Star Wars Original Trilogy. Similarly, if Cloud Strife appears in your work, you could tag your work with Compilation of Final Fantasy VII and/or Kingdom Hearts (Video Games) as fandom tags because Cloud is a character in both fandoms. If a fandom has both a movie and a comics version, we will defer to creators on whether to use the fandom tags for one or the other (or even both). It's up to the work's creator to use their best judgement about which fandom tags are most suitable.

However, we do have a few minimum standards. Generally, we don't consider the following scenarios sufficient to mean a fandom is represented in a work:

• A minor or off-hand reference to a well-known/pop-culture element from fandom A, such as an item, location, or the name of a character
• The characters of fandom B are consuming the canon of fandom A, such as by playing a game or watching a movie
• The characters of fandom B are roleplaying as the characters from fandom A

If a fandom doesn't feature in your work beyond minor references such as these, you should not tag that fandom on your work. Instead, you can use an additional tag such as References to The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) or Inspired by The Great Gatsby.

RPF vs FPF

On AO3, we generally differentiate between RPF (Real-Person Fiction) and FPF (Fictional-Person Fiction). When you're writing about a canon's real-life actors (such as Chris Hemsworth or Mark Ruffalo), you should indicate that by using the "RPF" version of a tag (such as Marvel Cinematic Universe RPF). If you're writing about the fictional characters (such as Thor or Bruce Banner), and not their actors, then you should use the tag for that fictional universe (such as Marvel Cinematic Universe). Even if you're writing about a real-life actor on set, filming a movie, you should still only use the RPF fandom tag and not the tag for the fictional universe: the fictional character isn't actually present in the work, it's simply the actor doing their job.

Sometimes, fandoms have only RPF components, typically when the fandom is for a reality show or other non-fictional canon. For example, fandoms like Boys Planet (Korea TV) and My Favorite Murder (Podcast) do not involve any fictional characters, so the RPF-FPF divide does not apply to them.

A fandom tag that is an actor's name, such as Pedro Pascal - Fandom, is automatically considered RPF. These fandom tags should not be applied to works that are only about the characters an actor portrays. Instead, you can use an additional tag such as Joel (The Last of Us) Played by Pedro Pascal. If you’re a fan of a specific actor or pairing and enjoy seeing them in the different roles they've played, you may also be interested in the Actor X/Actor Y Character Combinations additional tag format.

Generic fandom tags

Because we take a very broad view of how relevant a fandom tag is, it's always OK to use a generic fandom tag such as Unspecified Fandom, No Fandom, or even Original Work. Just as you can always opt out of applying a specific rating (by instead using "Not Rated") or a specific warning (by instead using "Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings"), you may opt out of using a specific fandom tag by instead using a generic or non-specific fandom tag.

You're never required to use any particular fandom tag. If you want to tag all your fanworks with Unspecified Fandom instead of specific fandom tags, you're free to do so. We may require a creator to remove an inaccurate fandom tag, but we will never require a specific fandom tag to be added.

Synonymous tags

AO3's tag system relies on Tag Wrangling volunteers, who link synonymous tags to a canonical tag if both tags are the same type and have the same meaning. This is why you can click on Buffy the Vampire Slayer or BtVS - Fandom and the same set of results will pop up; these two fandom tags have both been made synonyms of the canonical fandom tag Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV). The Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV) works page will show works tagged with exactly "Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)" and works tagged with any synonymous fandom tags. If you want to learn more about how tag wrangling works, refer to the Tag Wrangling Work Description.

PAC does not handle issues relating to what tags are canonical, how tags are formatted, or which tags have been made synonymous with which other tags. We only look at the exact tag on a given work, not where it's linked to. If you have concerns about a Tag Wrangling decision, please contact Support instead.

Language tags

Every work must be tagged with a language reflecting the language the work is presented in. If the work has multiple primary languages, or no language at all (e.g. artwork), we'll defer to the creator's judgement about which language to tag their work with.

In 2021, Support took over responsibility for handling language tags. If you find a fanwork that's labeled with an incorrect language, please report it to Support, not to PAC. Support will contact the creator and ensure their work is labeled with a language that's represented in the work.

Non-mandatory (optional) tags

Creators can use the category, relationship, character, and additional tag fields to provide more information about their work, but they're not required to. Neither PAC nor Support will judge the accuracy or relevance of these kinds of tags.

However, all tags (regardless of type) are still subject to our general content policies. Tags can't be used to engage in commercial activity or harass other users, because these are both not allowed on AO3. (Later posts in this series will discuss these kinds of violations and how we handle them.)

Harassment generally includes tags which insult or threaten other AO3 users. As mentioned above, inaccurate tagging is not considered harassment. Tags which express negative views of characters or relationships are also not considered harassment. AO3 is open to all kinds of fanworks, including ones that are critical, mocking, or parodies.

If you dislike the way a particular user tags their works, the TOS FAQ has some tips on how to avoid content you don't want to encounter.

What happens if I'm reported for tagging an incorrect fandom?

First, we'll review the reported work to confirm whether your fandom tags are actually incorrect. If you need to update them, we'll send you an email telling you to fix the issue.

If you don't fix it, we'll remove any inaccurate fandom tags. If doing this means we end up removing all of the fandom tags on your work, we'll add the "Unspecified Fandom" tag instead.

We don't ever delete works for having incorrect tags. While we do require inaccurate fandom tags to be fixed, it is very rare for us to apply any penalties to a user's account for incorrectly tagging a fandom. We usually only penalize a user if they revert the changes we made or required them to make, or if they are frequently mistagging their works despite repeated attempts from us to contact them.

However, tags are still subject to our Content Policy. If you violate our commercial promotion or harassment policies with your tags, penalties will be applied accordingly. We'll discuss those policies in later posts.

What should I do if I encounter a work that has an incorrect tag?

You can give the creator a heads up by politely commenting on their work and linking to the TOS FAQ or this post. Alternatively, you can:

• Report the work to PAC, if the incorrect tag is a fandom tag.
• Report the work to Support, if the language is incorrect.
• Mute the work or its creator, if the incorrect tag is a category, character, relationship, or additional tag; or if the issue is with the work's completion status, updated date, kudos count, or other metadata.

How do I report a work with the wrong fandom tags?

Although we ask that you do not deliberately seek out incorrectly tagged works to report, if you come across a work tagged with one or more incorrect fandoms, you can report it using the Policy Questions & Abuse Reports form, which is linked at the bottom of every page on AO3. If a work is tagged with multiple incorrect fandoms, please give us a list of all of the fandom tags you think are incorrect and should be removed.

Regardless of what type of incorrect tag you're reporting, please don't report more than one user at a time or submit multiple reports about the same user for the same reason. When reporting multiple works by the same user, please submit only one report with links to each work you're reporting, so that all information about that user is in the same place.

For example, a report of a work with an incorrect fandom might look like this:

Link to the page you are reporting: https://archiveofourown.org/works/00000000

Brief summary of Terms of Service violation: Incorrect fandom tag

Description of the content you are reporting:
This work by USERNAME is tagged with "Star Wars" but it's actually only about the Avengers, and the characters just watched Star Wars for movie night.

If you are reporting additional works, please include all relevant links and other information in your report description:

Description of the content you are reporting:
This work by USERNAME is tagged with "Star Wars" but it's actually only about the Avengers, and the characters just watched Star Wars for movie night.

Some of their other works also have the wrong fandom:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23456789 is tagged "The Avengers (Marvel Movies)" but it's about Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. which means it's RPF and should be tagged with the RPF fandom tag. Steve Rogers and Tony Stark don't appear anywhere in the work.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/34567890 This work tags "The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time" when the character's sword only shapeshifts into the Master Sword for two sentences before turning into another sword.

You can add more details if you like, but this example provides the basic information we need:

• Who posted the incorrectly tagged work(s): Tell us their username or if the work is anonymous or orphaned.
• Where we can find the work(s): Enter one URL in the "Link to the page you are reporting" field, and (if applicable) include links to any other violating works in the description of your report.
• What violates the TOS: Explain which fandom tag(s) on each work you're reporting are incorrect. A brief list or description is fine; you don't need to be very detailed or quote an entire TOS or FAQ section.

You'll receive an automatic email confirming that we received your report, and our volunteers will investigate when they get a chance. Please be patient and do not submit another report about the same work. While PAC and Support investigate every report we receive, it can take several months for us to process a report, and not every report will receive a reply.

What if I have more questions about tags?

PAC follows a strict confidentiality policy. Therefore, while you are welcome to ask general questions in the comments of this post, we will not give information on specific cases, publicly rule on a work, or update you on the status of a report you have already submitted. Comments on this post that discuss specific works or users will be removed.

If you think you've found a work that is tagged with a fandom that doesn't appear in the work, please report the work to us as described above. If you think you've found a work that is tagged with an incorrect language, please report it to Support instead. For more information, you can read our TOS FAQ on other tags.

If you are still uncertain, you can comment below or submit a question through the Policy Questions & Abuse Reports form.