CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en-US"><head><meta charset="UTF-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>OTW Terms of Service | Organization for Transformative Works</title> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-content/themes/otw/style.css" /> <noscript><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-content/themes/otw/noscript.css"> </noscript><link rel="pingback" href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/xmlrpc.php" /><meta name='robots' content='max-image-preview:large' /> <style>img:is([sizes="auto" i], [sizes^="auto," i]) { contain-intrinsic-size: 3000px 1500px }</style><link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/otw_tos/" /><link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/otw_tos/" /><link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//cdn.statuspage.io' /><link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//fonts.googleapis.com' /><link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//use.fontawesome.com' /><link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Organization for Transformative Works » OTW Terms of Service Comments Feed" href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/otw_tos/feed/" /><link rel='stylesheet' id='wp-block-library-css' href='https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-includes/css/dist/block-library/style.min.css?ver=6.7.2' type='text/css' media='all' /><link rel='stylesheet' id='google_web_fonts-css' href='https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Asap+Condensed%3Awght%40500&display=swap&ver=6.7.2' type='text/css' media='all' /><link rel='stylesheet' id='font-awesome-svg-styles-css' href='https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-content/uploads/font-awesome/v6.5.2/css/font-awesome-svg-styles.min.css' type='text/css' media='all' /> <style id='font-awesome-svg-styles-inline-css' type='text/css'> .wp-block-font-awesome-icon svg::before, .wp-rich-text-font-awesome-icon svg::before {content: unset;} </style> <style id='classic-theme-styles-inline-css' type='text/css'> /*! This file is auto-generated */ .wp-block-button__link{color:#fff;background-color:#32373c;border-radius:9999px;box-shadow:none;text-decoration:none;padding:calc(.667em + 2px) calc(1.333em + 2px);font-size:1.125em}.wp-block-file__button{background:#32373c;color:#fff;text-decoration:none} </style> <style id='global-styles-inline-css' type='text/css'> :root{--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--square: 1;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--4-3: 4/3;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--3-4: 3/4;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--3-2: 3/2;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--2-3: 2/3;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--16-9: 16/9;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--9-16: 9/16;--wp--preset--color--black: #000000;--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray: #abb8c3;--wp--preset--color--white: #ffffff;--wp--preset--color--pale-pink: #f78da7;--wp--preset--color--vivid-red: #cf2e2e;--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange: #ff6900;--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber: #fcb900;--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan: #7bdcb5;--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan: #00d084;--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue: #8ed1fc;--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue: #0693e3;--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple: #9b51e0;--wp--preset--gradient--vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(6,147,227,1) 0%,rgb(155,81,224) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(122,220,180) 0%,rgb(0,208,130) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(252,185,0,1) 0%,rgba(255,105,0,1) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(255,105,0,1) 0%,rgb(207,46,46) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(238,238,238) 0%,rgb(169,184,195) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--cool-to-warm-spectrum: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(74,234,220) 0%,rgb(151,120,209) 20%,rgb(207,42,186) 40%,rgb(238,44,130) 60%,rgb(251,105,98) 80%,rgb(254,248,76) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--blush-light-purple: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,206,236) 0%,rgb(152,150,240) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--blush-bordeaux: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(254,205,165) 0%,rgb(254,45,45) 50%,rgb(107,0,62) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-dusk: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,203,112) 0%,rgb(199,81,192) 50%,rgb(65,88,208) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--pale-ocean: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,245,203) 0%,rgb(182,227,212) 50%,rgb(51,167,181) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--electric-grass: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(202,248,128) 0%,rgb(113,206,126) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--midnight: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(2,3,129) 0%,rgb(40,116,252) 100%);--wp--preset--font-size--small: 13px;--wp--preset--font-size--medium: 20px;--wp--preset--font-size--large: 36px;--wp--preset--font-size--x-large: 42px;--wp--preset--spacing--20: 0.44rem;--wp--preset--spacing--30: 0.67rem;--wp--preset--spacing--40: 1rem;--wp--preset--spacing--50: 1.5rem;--wp--preset--spacing--60: 2.25rem;--wp--preset--spacing--70: 3.38rem;--wp--preset--spacing--80: 5.06rem;--wp--preset--shadow--natural: 6px 6px 9px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);--wp--preset--shadow--deep: 12px 12px 50px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4);--wp--preset--shadow--sharp: 6px 6px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);--wp--preset--shadow--outlined: 6px 6px 0px -3px rgba(255, 255, 255, 1), 6px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);--wp--preset--shadow--crisp: 6px 6px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);}:where(.is-layout-flex){gap: 0.5em;}:where(.is-layout-grid){gap: 0.5em;}body .is-layout-flex{display: flex;}.is-layout-flex{flex-wrap: wrap;align-items: center;}.is-layout-flex > :is(*, div){margin: 0;}body .is-layout-grid{display: grid;}.is-layout-grid > :is(*, div){margin: 0;}:where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-flex){gap: 2em;}:where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-grid){gap: 2em;}:where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-flex){gap: 1.25em;}:where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-grid){gap: 1.25em;}.has-black-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-black-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-black-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red) !important;}.has-very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-cool-to-warm-spectrum-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--cool-to-warm-spectrum) !important;}.has-blush-light-purple-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--blush-light-purple) !important;}.has-blush-bordeaux-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--blush-bordeaux) !important;}.has-luminous-dusk-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-dusk) !important;}.has-pale-ocean-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--pale-ocean) !important;}.has-electric-grass-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--electric-grass) !important;}.has-midnight-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--midnight) !important;}.has-small-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--small) !important;}.has-medium-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--medium) !important;}.has-large-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--large) !important;}.has-x-large-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--x-large) !important;} :where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-flex){gap: 1.25em;}:where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-grid){gap: 1.25em;} :where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-flex){gap: 2em;}:where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-grid){gap: 2em;} :root :where(.wp-block-pullquote){font-size: 1.5em;line-height: 1.6;} </style><link rel='stylesheet' id='wp-glossary-css-css' href='https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-content/plugins/wp-glossary/css/wp-glossary-css.min.css?ver=6.7.2' type='text/css' media='all' /><link rel='stylesheet' id='wp-glossary-qtip-css-css' href='https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-content/plugins/wp-glossary/ext/wp-glossary-qtip-css.min.css?ver=6.7.2' type='text/css' media='all' /><link rel='stylesheet' id='wpml-legacy-horizontal-list-0-css' href='https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-content/plugins/sitepress-multilingual-cms/templates/language-switchers/legacy-list-horizontal/style.min.css?ver=1' type='text/css' media='all' /><link rel='stylesheet' id='cms-navigation-style-base-css' href='https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-content/plugins/wpml-cms-nav/res/css/cms-navigation-style-base.min.css?ver=1.5.5' type='text/css' media='screen' /><link rel='stylesheet' id='cms-navigation-style-css' href='https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-content/plugins/wpml-cms-nav/res/css/cms-navigation-style.min.css?ver=1.5.5' type='text/css' media='screen' /><link rel='stylesheet' id='custom-fa-css' href='https://use.fontawesome.com/releases/v5.0.6/css/all.css?ver=6.7.2' type='text/css' media='all' /><link rel='stylesheet' id='font-awesome-official-css' href='https://use.fontawesome.com/releases/v6.5.2/css/all.css' type='text/css' media='all' integrity="sha384-PPIZEGYM1v8zp5Py7UjFb79S58UeqCL9pYVnVPURKEqvioPROaVAJKKLzvH2rDnI" crossorigin="anonymous" /> <style id='akismet-widget-style-inline-css' type='text/css'> .a-stats { --akismet-color-mid-green: #357b49; --akismet-color-white: #fff; --akismet-color-light-grey: #f6f7f7; max-width: 350px; width: auto; } .a-stats * { all: unset; box-sizing: border-box; } .a-stats strong { font-weight: 600; } .a-stats a.a-stats__link, .a-stats a.a-stats__link:visited, .a-stats a.a-stats__link:active { background: var(--akismet-color-mid-green); border: none; box-shadow: none; border-radius: 8px; color: var(--akismet-color-white); cursor: pointer; display: block; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', 'Roboto', 'Oxygen-Sans', 'Ubuntu', 'Cantarell', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-weight: 500; padding: 12px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease; } /* Extra specificity to deal with TwentyTwentyOne focus style */ .widget .a-stats a.a-stats__link:focus { background: var(--akismet-color-mid-green); color: var(--akismet-color-white); text-decoration: none; } .a-stats a.a-stats__link:hover { filter: brightness(110%); box-shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.06), 0 0 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.16); } .a-stats .count { color: var(--akismet-color-white); display: block; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.4; padding: 0 13px; white-space: nowrap; } </style><link rel='stylesheet' id='wpgdprc-front-css-css' href='https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-content/plugins/wp-gdpr-compliance/Assets/css/wpgdprc-front-css.min.css?ver=1706693875' type='text/css' media='all' /> <style id='wpgdprc-front-css-inline-css' type='text/css'> :root{--wp-gdpr--bar--background-color: #000000;--wp-gdpr--bar--color: #ffffff;--wp-gdpr--button--background-color: #000000;--wp-gdpr--button--background-color--darken: #000000;--wp-gdpr--button--color: #ffffff;} </style><link rel='stylesheet' id='font-awesome-official-v4shim-css' href='https://use.fontawesome.com/releases/v6.5.2/css/v4-shims.css' type='text/css' media='all' integrity="sha384-XyvK/kKwgVW+fuRkusfLgfhAMuaxLPSOY8W7wj8tUkf0Nr2WGHniPmpdu+cmPS5n" crossorigin="anonymous" /> <script defer type="text/javascript" src="https://cdn.statuspage.io/se-v2.js?ver=6.7.2" id="statuspage-js"></script> <script defer type="text/javascript" src="https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-content/uploads/siteground-optimizer-assets/custom.min.js?ver=6.7.2" id="custom-js"></script> <script defer type="text/javascript" src="https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.min.js?ver=3.7.1" id="jquery-core-js"></script> <script defer type="text/javascript" src="https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery-migrate.min.js?ver=3.4.1" id="jquery-migrate-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" id="wpgdprc-front-js-js-extra"> /* <![CDATA[ */ var wpgdprcFront = {"ajaxUrl":"https:\/\/www.transformativeworks.org\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","ajaxNonce":"4a43b4f517","ajaxArg":"security","pluginPrefix":"wpgdprc","blogId":"1","isMultiSite":"","locale":"en_US","showSignUpModal":"1","showFormModal":"","cookieName":"wpgdprc-consent","consentVersion":"","path":"\/","prefix":"wpgdprc"}; /* ]]> */ </script> <script defer type="text/javascript" src="https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-content/plugins/wp-gdpr-compliance/Assets/js/front.min.js?ver=1706693875" id="wpgdprc-front-js-js"></script><link rel="https://api.w.org/" href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-json/" /><link rel="alternate" title="JSON" type="application/json" href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-json/wp/v2/pages/10225" /><link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" title="RSD" href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/xmlrpc.php?rsd" /><meta name="generator" content="WordPress 6.7.2" /><link rel="canonical" href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/otw_tos/" /><link rel='shortlink' href='https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=10225' /><link rel="alternate" title="oEmbed (JSON)" type="application/json+oembed" href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.transformativeworks.org%2Fotw_tos%2F" /><link rel="alternate" title="oEmbed (XML)" type="text/xml+oembed" href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.transformativeworks.org%2Fotw_tos%2F&format=xml" /><meta name="generator" content="WPML ver:4.6.15 stt:68,5,67,7,8,61,63,22,9,12,39,1,15,65,18,4,71,3,13,20,21,23,26,25,27,28,29,32,33,34,64,66,40,17,42,44,43,46,47,51,69,10,48,2,52,54,55,56,59,11;" /><link rel="icon" href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/cropped-Otw_logo_512px-32x32.png" sizes="32x32" /><link rel="icon" href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/cropped-Otw_logo_512px-192x192.png" sizes="192x192" /><link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/cropped-Otw_logo_512px-180x180.png" /><meta name="msapplication-TileImage" content="https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/cropped-Otw_logo_512px-270x270.png" /> <style type="text/css" id="wp-custom-css"> iframe { max-width: 100% !important; } #ao3-status-blurb { padding: 7px; text-align: center; background: #f0f0f0; border: 1px solid #eaeaea; color: #5e5e5e; } .ao3-green { color: #179315; font-weight: 600; } .ao3-red { color: #b52a2a; font-weight: 600; } </style></head><body class="page-template-default page page-id-10225 page-parent"><div id="head"> <a class="skip-link screen-reader-text" href="#content"> Skip to content </a><div id="brand"> <a id="logo" class="add-wpml" href="/"></a><div id="site-title"> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/" title="Organization for Transformative Works" rel="home">Organization for Transformative Works</a></div></div><div id="menu"><div id="access" role="navigation"><div id="mobile-menu-trigger" onclick="openClose()"> <span id="menu-bars"><i class="fas fa-bars"></i></span> MENU</div><div class="menu-main-nav-container"><ul id="menu-main-nav" class="menu"><li id="menu-item-15575" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-15575"><a href="/">Home</a></li><li id="menu-item-231945" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-231945"><a href="/our-projects">Projects</a></li><li id="menu-item-231944" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-231944"><a href="/news-feed">News</a></li><li id="menu-item-231943" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-231943"><a href="/how-you-can-help">Join Us</a></li><li id="menu-item-231942" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-231942"><a href="/about_otw">About</a></li><li id="menu-item-19215" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-19215"><a href="https://donate.transformativeworks.org/otwgive">Donate</a></li></ul></div></div> <form id="searchform" role="search" method="get" class="form-search" action="https://www.transformativeworks.org/"><div class="input-group"> <label class="screen-reader-text" for="s">Search for:</label> <input id="s" type="text" class="form-control search-query" placeholder="Search..." value="" name="s" title="Search for:" /> <span class="input-group-btn"> <button type="submit" class="btn btn-default" name="submit" id="searchsubmit" value="Search"><i class="fas fa-search"></i></button> </span></div> <input type='hidden' name='lang' value='en' /></form></div></div><div id="main"><div id="container"><div id="sidebar-wrapper"><div id="sideBar1"><div id="sidebar-admin"></div><div class="otw-intro sidebar-blurb"> <div class="sidebar-title">What's this about?</div><p>The OTW is a fan-run nonprofit dedicated to the preservation of fanworks. We're sustained entirely by donations from our users! Please consider <b><a href="https://donate.transformativeworks.org/otwgive">donating</a></b>.</p>   </div><div class="sidebar-blurb otw-status-container" id="otw-status-container"> <span class="otw-status-dot" id="otw-status-dot"></span> <a class="otw-status-link" id="otw-status-link" href="https://www.otwstatus.org"> <span class="otw-status-text" id="otw-status-text">Fetching OTW site statuses...</span> </a></div><div class="recent-news sidebar-blurb"><div class="sidebar-title">Recent news</div> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/five-things-genrecat-said/"> <span class="recent-post-line">Five Things GenreCat Said</span> </a> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/261362/"> <span class="recent-post-line">Fandom and Fair Use: Spotlight on Recent Fair Use Discussions</span> </a> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/intermittent-site-slowness-and-errors/"> <span class="recent-post-line">Intermittent site slowness and errors</span> </a> <a href="/news-feed" class="add-wpml"> <span class="recent-post-line explore-news">Explore all news...</span> </a></div><div class="news-feed-tag-cloud sidebar-blurb"><div class="sidebar-title">News categories</div> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/category/news-of-note/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-909 tag-link-position-1" style="font-size: 0.95em;" aria-label="News of Note (599 items)">News of Note<span class="tag-link-count"> (599)</span></a> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/category/announcement/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-546 tag-link-position-2" style="font-size: 0.95em;" aria-label="Announcement (527 items)">Announcement<span class="tag-link-count"> (527)</span></a> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/category/event/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-549 tag-link-position-3" style="font-size: 0.95em;" aria-label="Event (366 items)">Event<span class="tag-link-count"> (366)</span></a> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/category/archive-of-our-own/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-562 tag-link-position-4" style="font-size: 0.95em;" aria-label="Archive of Our Own (247 items)">Archive of Our Own<span class="tag-link-count"> (247)</span></a> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/category/newsletter/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-543 tag-link-position-5" style="font-size: 0.95em;" aria-label="Newsletter (187 items)">Newsletter<span class="tag-link-count"> (187)</span></a> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/category/open-doors/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-565 tag-link-position-6" style="font-size: 0.95em;" aria-label="Open Doors (152 items)">Open Doors<span class="tag-link-count"> (152)</span></a> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/category/volunteering/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-548 tag-link-position-7" style="font-size: 0.95em;" aria-label="Volunteering (152 items)">Volunteering<span class="tag-link-count"> (152)</span></a> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/category/legal-advocacy/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-566 tag-link-position-8" style="font-size: 0.95em;" aria-label="Legal Advocacy (151 items)">Legal Advocacy<span class="tag-link-count"> (151)</span></a> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/category/this-week-in-fandom/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-1792 tag-link-position-9" style="font-size: 0.95em;" aria-label="This Week in Fandom (149 items)">This Week in Fandom<span class="tag-link-count"> (149)</span></a> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/category/spotlight/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-544 tag-link-position-10" style="font-size: 0.95em;" aria-label="Spotlight (128 items)">Spotlight<span class="tag-link-count"> (128)</span></a> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/category/spotlight/five-things/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-1829 tag-link-position-11" style="font-size: 0.95em;" aria-label="Five Things (104 items)">Five Things<span class="tag-link-count"> (104)</span></a> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/category/spotlight/guest-post/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-1141 tag-link-position-12" style="font-size: 0.95em;" aria-label="Guest Post (104 items)">Guest Post<span class="tag-link-count"> (104)</span></a> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/category/transformative-works-and-cultures/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-564 tag-link-position-13" style="font-size: 0.95em;" aria-label="Transformative Works and Cultures (81 items)">Transformative Works and Cultures<span class="tag-link-count"> (81)</span></a> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/category/news-of-note/otw-signal/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-5551 tag-link-position-14" style="font-size: 0.95em;" aria-label="OTW Signal (54 items)">OTW Signal<span class="tag-link-count"> (54)</span></a> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/category/report/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-552 tag-link-position-15" style="font-size: 0.95em;" aria-label="Report (53 items)">Report<span class="tag-link-count"> (53)</span></a> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/category/vidding/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-905 tag-link-position-16" style="font-size: 0.95em;" aria-label="Vidding (52 items)">Vidding<span class="tag-link-count"> (52)</span></a> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/category/fanlore/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-563 tag-link-position-17" style="font-size: 0.95em;" aria-label="Fanlore (48 items)">Fanlore<span class="tag-link-count"> (48)</span></a> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/category/uncategorized/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-1 tag-link-position-18" style="font-size: 0.95em;" aria-label="Uncategorized (1 item)">Uncategorized<span class="tag-link-count"> (1)</span></a></div><div id="language-menu-wrapper"><div id="language-menu"> <span id="globe-icon"></span><form> <select id="language-form" name="language-form" onchange="redirect(this)"><option>Select language</option> </select></form></div></div></div></div><div id="content" role="main"><div id="post-10225" class="post-10225 page type-page status-publish hentry"><h1 class="entry-title">OTW Terms of Service</h1><div class="entry-content"><h4>What We Believe</h4><ol><li>Our goal across all OTW services, sites and projects is maximum inclusiveness of content.</li><li>We are committed to defending fanworks against legal challenges. Our position on transformative fanworks is detailed in <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/faq/">the OTW FAQ</a>. We have legal resources and alliances on which we can draw. However, that is not a guarantee that the organization can or will fight each battle. The Board will take into account a variety of factors, both legal and otherwise, in responding to a legal challenge. Further information is available <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/projects/legal">on the OTW site</a>.</li><li>We do not sell the data that you post on, submit to or share on “OTW Sites” (<i>transformativeworks.org</i>, <i>archiveofourown.org</i> and <i>fanlore.org</i>) to third parties, and we do not include or accept paid advertisements from third parties. Each of the OTW Sites has its own Terms of Service and a Privacy Policy that explains what information we collect, how we use it and who we share it with. These Terms of Service, including the privacy policy herein, govern your use of the <i>transformativeworks.org</i> website. Your use of <i>archiveofourown.org</i> and <i>fanlore.org</i> is governed by each site’s Terms and Policy, respectively.</li><li>We strive to make each OTW Site’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy readable. We have tried to provide explanations for the more unusual legal terms. If you have terminology questions not covered here, Law.com’s glossary may help, though we cannot vouch for the accuracy of outside sources, including those referenced in the ToS.</li></ol><hr /><p>There are four parts to the Terms of Service (ToS):</p><p><a href="#GP">I. General Principles</a><br /> <a href="#AP">II. Age Policy</a><br /> <a href="#CaCP">III. Comment and Content Policies</a><br /> <a href="#PP">IV. Privacy Policy</a></p><hr /><h3><a name=GP>I. General Principles</a></h3><h4>A. The legalese: including where a lawsuit would be filed, when, and under what law</h4><p>The ToS constitute the entire agreement between you (the “User”) and the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) and govern your use of the transformativeworks.org website, OTW-managed activities and all subdomains and alternative top-level domains related thereto, including but not limited to OTW Memberships, OTW Elections and Voting, applying to volunteer and volunteering for the OTW, and membership on the OTW Board of Directors (collectively, “Service” or “OTW”). References are made herein to OTW projects including Fanlore, Transformative Works and Cultures (“TWC”), the Open Doors Project (“Open Doors”) and Archive of Our Own (“AO3”). These Terms of Service take the place of all prior agreements between you and the OTW concerning your use of the Service. Individuals who apply to volunteer for the OTW and all OTW Personnel, including members of the OTW Board of Directors, will be asked to agree to a Code of Conduct that includes provisions that are not included herein, but which incorporates these Terms of Service and this Privacy Policy by reference.</p><p>This OTW ToS, the relationship between you and the OTW, and all disputes arising out of or related to it, shall be governed by the laws of the United States and specifically the State of New York (<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/tos_faq#ny_law">refer to the AO3 ToS FAQ</a>), without regard to its conflict of law provisions.</p><p>You and the OTW agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within New York County (Manhattan), New York, and to waive any objection to the laying of venue there.</p><p>The OTW’s failure to enforce any part of the ToS will not waive the OTW’s ability to enforce it, and any waiver with regard to a specific instance shall not constitute a waiver of any other breaches of the ToS, even with regard to the same user.</p><p>If any provision of the ToS is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, you agree that the court should give effect to the party’s intentions as reflected in the provision, and that the other provisions of the ToS remain in full force and effect.</p><p>You agree that, regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of the Service or the ToS must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.</p><h4>B. You agree to the Terms of Service</h4><ol><li>The OTW hosts and shares content created by the general public, including fans and OTW staff, volunteers, officers, directors, consultants, accountants and attorneys (hereinafter “Personnel”). Our Privacy Policy is a part of these Terms of Service and is contained in <a href="#PP">Section IV of these Terms of Service</a>. By submitting a comment, image, bug report, item of information including personally identifying information like an email address, link, or any other form of content (“Content”) to the Service, or by viewing any Content on the Service, you affirm, confirm and state that you comply with and assent to the ToS, which incorporates the OTW Privacy Policy.</li><li>We may update the ToS as necessary. The Terms of Service cannot be changed by, e.g., emails or oral communications with you.</li></ol><h4>C. Potential problems with the Service</h4><ol><li>The OTW provides its Services on an “as is” and “as available” basis. The OTW does not warrant (that is, does not make a legally binding promise) that our services will meet your requirements; that our services will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free; or that the results you get from using the services will be accurate, reliable, or satisfactory to you. We will endeavor to provide the best possible service to Users of the Service, but many things (e.g., possible outages, hackings, etc.) are not within our control and we cannot provide for all eventualities. In the event we learn of a breach of personally identifying information that Users have submitted to the Service, we will notify affected Users as soon as practicable.</li><li>Any material you download, view, or otherwise access through the Service is at your own risk. You will be solely responsible for any damage or loss of data that results from the download of any such material.</li><li>The OTW expressly disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including, but not limited to, the <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/tos_faq#merchantability">implied warranties of merchantability</a>, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. The ToS govern your use of the Service, and therefore no communication from anyone associated with the OTW will create any warranty that isn’t expressly stated in the ToS.</li><li>You expressly agree that the OTW shall not be liable to you for any damages of any kind (even if the OTW has been advised of the possibility of such damages) resulting from the Service, including but not limited to your use of or inability to use the Service; unauthorized access to or changes in Content or information you submit; and the acts and statements of third parties who use the Service.</li><li>You agree that the OTW shall not be liable to you or any third party for any termination of or limitation on your access to OTW. The OTW may change, end, or put on hiatus the Service, or parts of its Services, at any time.</li><li>You agree that the OTW shall not be liable to you for any claim arising out of Content you make available, your use of the Service, your connection to the Service, your use of the ToS, or your violation of any rights of another.</li></ol><p>In other words, the OTW is not liable to you for allowing you to post Content, download Content, use the Service, or interact with OTW. The OTW does not assume whatever legal risks you face by posting, viewing, or doing other things with Content.</p><h4>D. What you can’t do:</h4><p>You agree not to use the Service (as well as the e-mail addresses and URLs of OTW sites):</p><ol><li>to make available any Content that violates these Terms of Service;</li><li>to impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, an OTW representative, volunteer or other Personnel, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity (fiction identified as such, including real-person fiction in first-person format, is not subject to this policy);</li><li>to forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any Content transmitted to or through the the Service or any OTW Content, sites, servers, networks, or services (headers and identifiers are defined as information actually used or intended to be used to route or authenticate Content, and do not include Content that simulates identifiers as part of a story, such as a fictional e-mail exchange);</li><li>to make available any Content that a court has ruled constitutes patent, trademark, trade secret or copyright infringement (please be aware of the OTW’s position on fanwork legality);</li><li>to make available any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising (defined as solicitations for direct or indirect commercial advantage), junk mail, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or any other form of solicitation;</li><li>to make available any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer or hardware or telecommunications equipment;</li><li>to interfere with or disrupt the Service, any OTW-hosted Content or sites, servers, Services or networks connected to OTW sites;</li><li>to create an account, donate and/or become a Member if you are a resident or national of any country to which the U.S. has prohibited transactions by mandating a trade embargo, as detailed further by the U.S. State Department;</li><li>to create an account, donate and/or become a Member if you are under the age of thirteen;</li><li>to create an account, donate and/or become a Member if you are: between the ages of 13 and 16 and a resident or citizen of a country, including a European Economic Area country, that states an age that is older than yours is required to consent to the processing of personal data without our obtaining written permission from a parent or legal guardian under the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).<a href="https://www.betterinternetforkids.eu/web/portal/practice/awareness/detail?articleId=3017751">A list of countries that apply the GDPR can be found here.</a> Each user is responsible for knowing the laws of their own country.</li><li>to use OTW services to break any law that applies to you, including any rules or regulations having the force of law. Just by way of example, do not use the services to disseminate restricted technologies or violate laws governing the export of technical data. This provision is not intended to deal with matters subject to the Comment and Content Policy, but the Comment and Content Policy cannot cover every law in every country. As a general matter, the OTW follows US law. Content that is alleged to violate the law of a relevant jurisdiction will be dealt with according to the procedures established in the Comment and Content Policy.</li></ol><h4>E. Content you see through use of the Service:</h4><ol><li>The OTW or Users of its services may provide links to or content via sites that are owned or controlled by third parties, and may use such sites, including Twitter and Tumblr, to communicate information about the OTW and its family of sites. The OTW has no control over such sites or their terms of use or privacy policies, and you agree that the OTW is not responsible for and does not endorse their content, terms or availability.</li><li>While we limit the types of embedded content visible or accessible via Content that we host, including as comments on news posts, some of the content that you see displayed via the Services are not hosted on our Services or by the Organization for Transformative Works including but not limited to images that are hosted by third-party sites (“Embedded Content”). If you access a page that includes Embedded Content, the content file may share data with the hosted site as if you were on or at the hosted site. Although all visible Content, including Embedded Content, must comply with our Comment and Content Policy, Embedded Content is not otherwise governed by these Terms of Service or the OTW Privacy Policy, and instead is covered by the Terms of Service and/or Privacy Policy of the service that hosts the Embedded Content. The OTW reserves the right to provide an indicator to Users that Embedded Content is present on or visible via your Content.</li><li>You understand that the OTW does not prescreen User-provided Content for purposes of compliance with the ToS. This includes but is not limited to text, graphics, comments, or any other material. Content, including User-Embedded Content, is the sole responsibility of the submitter. You understand that viewing content and using OTW Services may expose you to material that is offensive, triggering, erroneous, sexually explicit, indecent, blasphemous, objectionable, grammatically incorrect, or badly spelled.</li><li>The OTW is not liable to you for any Content to which you are exposed. You recognize that the OTW only endorses material that appears as an official statement of the OTW; the OTW may include content written by candidates for the OTW Board of Directors or by third parties including journalists, academics and governments; no endorsement is made or intended by the OTW’s inclusion of such content or links to such content or third-party sites. No current or former OTW Personnel, committee members, officers, or directors of the OTW are acting in an official capacity or speaking on behalf of the OTW when they engage fannishly on their own time and on their own accounts, including by posting, curating, reccing or discussing fanworks, commentary, or other content that fans create and/or interact with.</li></ol><h4>F. Valid e-mail address:</h4><ol><li>When you submit Content to the OTW, including but not limited to a commenting to a News post, submitting a Manuscript to TWC, or sending content to the OTW via email or one of our submission forms (“Submission”), you agree to provide an accurate and current e-mail address for an account that you check. If your e-mail address is inaccurate or not current, Service Personnel may not be able to reply to you.</li><li>OTW Personnel may view and share your e-mail and Submissions internally for legal and auditing purposes and for purposes of site management and maintenance. You consent to the OTW’s use of that email address and the content in your Submission to respond to you, and to maintain the integrity of the OTW and its Services, and the Content hosted thereon.</li><li>The names and e-mail addresses provided to TWC will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of the journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party without permission of the submitter.</li><li>The e-mail address you provide in connection with electing to become a Member of the OTW, will be used for election participation and auditing, and Membership management and auditing purposes, including informing you about the dates of your Membership term, if you elect to become a Member of the OTW, and the dates of subsequent OTW fundraisers. You can elect to unsubscribe from emails about subsequent fundraisers via links in said emails.</li><li>An e-mail address you provide in connection with a non-membership donation will be used for accounting, auditing and management purposes, including sending you a receipt if you donate non-anonymously.</li><li>If you are listed on any child protection registry, you cannot be a Member of the OTW. (There are child protection registries in Michigan and Utah, and our policy applies to any others that exist or may be adopted, whether local, state, or national, including any outside the U.S.)</li></ol><h4>G. What we do with Content:</h4><p>The OTW does not claim any ownership or copyright in your Content. Repeat: <strong>we do not own your Content</strong>. Nothing in this agreement changes that in any way. Running the OTW, however, requires us to make copies, and backup copies, on servers that may be located anywhere around the world.</p><ol><li>You agree that we can make those copies and show your Content to other people, subject to your privacy settings. Specifically, by submitting Content, you grant the OTW a world-wide, royalty-free, nonexclusive license to make your Content available; in the event you submit Content in the form of a Manuscript to be published by TWC, you also agree to grant a permanent, non-revocable <a href="”http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/navigationMenu/view/copyright”">Creative Commons license</a> to TWC and agree that TWC may store, process, and share Submissions, including Manuscripts, with TWC editors and Manuscript reviewers. “Making available” includes distributing, reproducing, performing, displaying, compiling, and modifying or adapting (<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/tos_faq#worldwide_nonexclusive">refer to the AO3 ToS FAQ</a>).Modifying and adapting here refer strictly to how your Content is displayed, not the information or creativity it contains. But because Content may be transmitted over various networks, we may have to make changes to the formatting or display of your Content in order to adapt to the technical requirements of different networks or devices. Multimedia content may not display properly on all devices. In some circumstances, we may make changes to improve accessibility. For example, we may automatically convert html tags to our standard forms (e.g., changing “bold” html to “strong”). Or we may make special provisions for accessibility, such as allowing you to use nonstandard fonts but also providing an alternate format for those who cannot read such fonts. We may use an internal search engine whose results display relevant snippets from your Content.</li><li>Subject to this section of these Terms of Service, this license exists only for as long as you choose to continue to include such Content on the OTW and will terminate within a reasonable time after you remove or the OTW removes such Content from the OTW. We will always strive to make your Content unavailable to Users as soon as possible; should you choose to remove it. Though removed Content will not be publicly available, for legal and disaster recovery purposes we may retain backup copies for longer periods.</li><li>You acknowledge and agree that the OTW may preserve Content and may disclose Content if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: comply with legal process; enforce the ToS; respond to claims that any Content violates the rights of third parties; or protect the rights, property, or personal safety of the OTW services’ Users and the public.</li></ol><h4>H. Data and Content Processing</h4><p>In order to operate the Services, host OTW and User Content, accept donations, manage Memberships, prevent technical issues and breaches, and conduct elections, we need to collect and process (e.g. store, retrieve, disseminate, analyze, review, make available, and delete) certain data and information including personally identifying information, also known as “Personal Data”. Personal Data includes IP address information as well as data that you provide to the OTW including your username, your email address, any personally identifying information you enter on the OTW Services, including Donation Information, any information you provide when commenting, submitting a Manuscript, applying to volunteer for the OTW, or as part of any other Content.</p><p>By using the OTW’s Services, you consent to our collection, processing, retention and display of your Content as set forth and explained in these Terms of Service so we can operate, manage, display and share Content on and via the Services; if we believe that using, retaining and/or sharing that information is necessary to preserve the integrity of the OTW and the Content that we host; for legitimate legal and/or accounting audit purposes; when we have a good faith belief it is required by law, such as pursuant to a subpoena or other legal process; or when we have a good faith belief that doing so will help prevent imminent harm to someone.</p><h3><a name=AP>II. OTW Age Policy</a></h3><p>This Age Policy covers the OTW’s treatment of Users (a) who are residents or citizens of the European Union and of the age where consent of a parent or legal guardian is required for the processing of personal data of children including email addresses and IP addresses, as well as certain uses of cookies; and (b) who are under the age of thirteen (13) and residents or citizens of any other country.</p><p>In compliance with United States regulations regarding online privacy for children, the OTW does not knowingly solicit or collect information from children under the age of thirteen (13). Children under the age of thirteen (13) are therefore not permitted to have any OTW account, donate in their own name, become an OTW Member, or upload Content of any type to the Services. By submitting Content to the Services and/or by donating to the OTW, you thereby confirm that you are thirteen (13) years old or older (<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/tos_faq#age_faq">refer to the AO3 ToS FAQ</a>).</p><p>We as an organization have opted to protect teen users’ privacy. As a result, unless they are residents/citizens of the EU countries that allow the collection of Special Categories of Personal Data from those at a younger age, individuals that we know are under the age of sixteen and residents/citizens of the European Union cannot submit Content to the OTW or be OTW Members unless they are old enough to consent to the collection of Special Categories of Personal Data in their own country. Any individual who is between the ages of 13 and 16 and a resident or citizen of a country, including a European Economic Area country, that states an age that is older than theirs is required to consent to the processing of personal data without our obtaining written permission from a parent or legal guardian under the GDPR is an “Age-Barred Individual.” Age-Barred Individuals may not submit Content to the OTW. OTW Personnel may, in their reasonable discretion, hide and/or delete accounts held by and/or Content submitted by Age-Barred Individuals.</p><p>Asking a parent or legal guardian to donate and/or become a Member does not mean the Age-Barred Individual is a Member of the OTW. Membership is non-transferrable.</p><h3><a name=CaCP>III. Comment and Content Policies</a></h3><p>We recognize that there is no such thing as a popular abuse policy. By their nature, abuse complaints are unpleasant at best. And policy needs to be applied by people, which always complicates matters. We have tried to set out clear procedures to minimize and channel the inevitable conflicts.</p><p>We may maintain one or more blogs on the site that accept comments. We strive for transparency and will generally post comments we receive, including critical comments. However, by submitting a blog comment, you agree that it is our decision whether or not to post it. If we decide, in our sole discretion, that a blog comment is spam or advertising; reveals or disseminates without authorization the personal information of another person; or contains illegal content or hate speech, we may not post that comment, or we may remove it at any time.</p><p>As set forth in Section I(E) of these Terms, we will not edit your comment for content or meaning, or prescreen User-submitted comments based on their content. We may change formats, automatically convert html tags to standard forms, or make other changes to improve accessibility or enable effective moderation of our comment forums.</p><p>Complaints about comments are investigated only when they are submitted through the appropriate channels and with the appropriate information.</p><h4>A. Procedures</h4><ol><li>Submitting a complaintCopyright complaints should be submitted pursuant to the instructions on <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/tos#IV.D.">our DMCA page</a>. Complaints about Comments on OTW posts should be submitted via <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/contact_us/">our Contact form</a>. In order for Personnel to follow up on any allegation, the exact location (URL) and nature of the alleged violation must be supplied in the original complaint. Depending on the nature of the complaint, anonymity of the complainant may hinder our ability to examine and/or verify the complaint. Repeated unverified complaints from the same source may be subject to summary rejection. OTW reserves the right to remove Content immediately if we are contacted by a legitimate law enforcement agency or if we determine that the Content is threatening to an individual or reveals an individual’s personal information without consent.</li><li>AccountsThe OTW reserves the right to terminate or suspend OTW accounts that have been used to violate these Comment and Content Policies, or restrict access to the OTW by Users or IP addresses that have violated these Comment and Content Policies.</li></ol><h4>B. Spam and commercial promotion</h4><p>Promotion of commercial products or activities is not allowed. Repeated identical or nearly identical posts in multiple places, e.g., a large number of identical comments promoting a website, will also be considered spam regardless of commercial content.</p><p>Anything we determine is spam will be removed immediately.</p><p>In general, unsolicited commercial activity is not permitted on the OTW website.</p><p>We may use automated means to filter out spam. If you submit Content that is erroneously caught in a spam filter, please contact <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/contact_us/">OTW Communications</a>.</p><h4>C. Threatening the technical integrity of the Service</h4><p>Conduct that threatens the technical integrity of the OTW website and other OTW Sites, e.g. attempts to hack the Service or spread viruses through it, will result in an immediate account suspension and deletion of any Content that is hazardous to the operation of the Service or to users’ computers or devices.</p><p>Uploading technically misnamed files or Content—e.g., non-image files with an image file extension used to disguise their actual format—constitutes a threat to the technical integrity of the site.</p><h4>D. Copyright and Trademark</h4><p>Please be aware that the OTW believes that transformative fanworks are legal; therefore, complaints based merely on the existence of fanwork based on copyrighted content or mentioning trademarks will not be pursued.</p><p>If you believe that your content has been reproduced in whole or in part, without transformative use (transformative use is defined by the OTW as adding something new, with a further purpose or different character, altering the source with new expression, meaning, or message), please <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/dmca">follow our procedures for reporting copyright infringement</a>.</p><p>The report must clearly and specifically indicate the exact location (URL), nature, and extent of each instance of allegedly infringing content, as well as the exact copyrighted material that is being infringed, as well as full and complete contact information for the copyright holder and/or an authorized agent.</p><h4>E. Plagiarism</h4><p>Plagiarism (defined as using someone else’s words or concepts without properly attributing them to their source) is a violation of the ToS. Like all content that violates the ToS, the OTW reserves the right to remove plagiarized Content. Depending on the type and amount of plagiarized Content, this might entail removing an entire piece of Content, removing only the plagiarized portions from a longer work while leaving the original material, or adding citations.</p><h4>F. Personal information and fannish identities</h4><p>The OTW is committed to protecting the privacy of our Users, including the separation many fans choose to keep between their legal, “real life” names and their fannish pseudonyms. Unauthorized disclosure of a fan’s personal information and/or data which is included within the GDPR definition of Special Categories of Personal Data violates the Terms of Service. For these purposes, “personal information” may include legal names and other information sufficient to identify a person in the physical world that they have not voluntarily shared via or on that OTW project itself. The OTW reserves the right to delete, hide, mask or otherwise make unavailable to the general public any personal information and/or data which is included within the definition of Special Categories of Personal Data.</p><h4>G. Harassment</h4><p>Harassment is any behavior that produces a generally hostile environment for its target. This includes activities such as bullying and hazing by groups of people as well as personal attacks by individuals. Not everyone agrees about what is offensive and unacceptable.</p><p>Harassment is not allowed. Harassing material may be removed and Users or IP addresses engaging in harassing behavior may be warned, suspended, or barred as described above.</p><p>When judging whether a specific incident constitutes harassment, OTW Personnel will consider factors such as whether the behavior was repeated, whether it was repeated after the offender was asked to stop, whether the behavior was targeted at a specific person, whether that target could have easily avoided encountering the behavior, whether the behavior would be considered unacceptable according to normal community standards, etc. Additionally, making complaints that are both (a) repeated and (b) baseless, particularly those targeting a specific user, can be considered harassing behavior and may be deemed a violation of the ToS.</p><p>While these complaints will be reviewed on a case by case basis, in general, threatening Content will be considered harassment, while Content that is merely annoying will be allowed. Please note that most statements like “X is a terrible actor and should die!” are not death threats.</p><p>The behavior of the original poster (the complaint subject) may also affect OTW Personnel’s determination. If the original poster repeatedly contacts the subject of the Content about the Content after being told to stop, harasses the subject, or requests that others harass the subject, the Content may be considered part of a general pattern of harassment and be removed. Please use your best judgment both when producing Content of this type and when reporting it.</p><h4>H. Illegal and inappropriate Content</h4><p>Content may not be uploaded to OTW’s servers if it contains or links to child pornography (images of real children); warez, cracks, hacks or other executable files and their associated utilities; trade secrets, restricted technologies, or classified information. Uploading such Content is a violation of the ToS.</p><p>We may determine that we need to remove Content to resolve a threatened or pending lawsuit or mitigate other liability. If so, we will remove the Content. Unless said Content or data otherwise violates the ToS or was submitted by an Age-Barred Individual, removal for such reasons will not result in suspension of access.</p><p>If you believe Content violates a specific law, you may report it to us. Please, however, read our Offensive Content Policy below.</p><h4>I. Offensive Content Policy</h4><p>As provided in part I.E.2 of the Terms of Service, the OTW is not liable to you for any Content to which you are exposed on or because of the Service.</p><p>Unless it violates some other policy, we will not remove Content for offensiveness, no matter how awful, repugnant, or badly spelled we may personally find that Content to be.</p><h4>J. Deleting Data</h4><ol><li>Deleting Your Account<ul><li>If a user wishes to cancel their Membership in the OTW, they are asked to <a href="https://transformativeworks.org/contact_us/">contact the Development & Membership Committee</a>. Users who cancel their membership will not receive a refund of their donation to the OTW. The OTW will retain information about individuals who have canceled their Membership in the same way, and to the same extent, as if the individual’s Membership had expired.</li><li>If a user wishes to delete their account relating to TWC, they are asked to <a href="https://transformativeworks.org/contact_us ">contact the TWC Committee</a>. Deleting your TWC account is a way of requesting that certain data about you be deleted. To maintain the integrity of the OTW and TWC, the OTW will retain a user’s publications, submissions, and peer reviews, and may retain other information about a user after their TWC account is deleted.</li><li>If you delete Content, such Content will be unrecoverable via the Service.</li><li>If you are a resident or citizen of the European Community, you can request that the OTW assemble the data about you that it has in our archive, and provide a copy in electronic format to you; we agree to provide such data to you within a reasonable time. If you request the deletion of such data and Content, the OTW reserves the right to retain data and Content necessary for law enforcement, audit, accounting and compliance purposes, and to maintain the integrity of the Services and the OTW.</li></ul></li></ol><h3><a name=PP>IV. Privacy Policy</a></h3><h4>A. What is the OTW?</h4><p>The Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) is a nonprofit organization established by fans to serve the interests of fans by providing access to and preserving the history of fanworks and fan culture in its myriad forms. We believe that fanworks are transformative and that transformative works are legitimate. For more information about how you can support the OTW, please see the <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/">OTW Website</a>. This Privacy Policy governs the all OTW Services other than the AO3 and Fanlore.</p><h4>B. This Privacy Policy applies to the OTW and its Services</h4><p>This Privacy Policy covers the OTW’s treatment of personally identifying information submitted to us, and which we collect when you use our services in the course of ordinary communications. The OTW or Users of its Services may provide links to or content via sites that are owned or controlled by third parties, and may use such sites, including Twitter and Tumblr, to communicate information about the OTW and its family of sites. The OTW has no control over such sites or their terms of use or privacy policies, and you agree that the OTW is not responsible for and does not endorse their content, terms or availability. If you follow links off the Service, you should review those sites’ privacy policies, which may be different, and for which the OTW takes no responsibility.</p><h4>C. About possible changes:</h4><p>If these Terms of Service and/or this Privacy Policy change at any point in the future, we will post the policy changes to the main Organization for Transformative Works website. Such changes will be used only for information provided by those who have visited, used, or accessed the Service after the effective date of such policy changes. If you are concerned about how your information is used, you should check back periodically to review the policies.</p><h4>D. Adherence to the TOS:</h4><p>If you feel that this Service is not following its stated information policy, please <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/contact_us/">contact OTW Personnel</a>.</p><h4>E. What we will do:</h4><ol><li>Any Content that you post in a comment to an OTW news post, including information you include therein about your religious views, political views, or your sexual identity, or any personally identifying information such as your email address, location, or an account user name for other sites, will be accessible by the general public, including OTW Personnel.</li><li>We collect your IP address when you visit any of the sites and Services that are part of the OTW family of sites.</li><li>We may use third-party services to store, process, or transmit data, or perform other technical functions related to operating the Service. These services may include website hosting, spam detectors, backup services, content management systems and associated plug-ins, e-mail services, donation processing, and election-vote processing; a list of third-party services is provided in our <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/otw_tos/organization-for-transformative-works-subprocessor-list/">Subprocessor List</a>. We cannot guarantee other services’ performance. We or the services we use may store or process your personally identifying information in data centers which may be located in the United States or other countries.</li><li>If you provide us with your email address when you post a comment, volunteer for a committee or project, submit a Bug Report, or submit any other content to OTW Personnel via a form, we may use your e-mail address internally for purposes of managing the OTW and its Services, and maintaining site integrity.</li><li><b><i>We collect, process and retain the following data for the following reasons:</i></b><ol type="a"><li>User-Specific Information: We collect information about what pages Users access or visit including news posts, your agreement with our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, your search queries, your interactions with our comment and reporting forms, as well as referral information (i.e. data about what site you are coming to the OTW from) and whether there are errors in displaying Content to you. We need this information to maintain the integrity of the Service and the Content that we host; to provide you with the Content that you are seeking; to minimize spam; and for other legal and accounting/audit reasons.<ol><li>You consent to our collection, processing, retention and display of text that you submit as Comments, as well as your personal information associated therewith. We need such consent because your purpose in and reason for submitting a Comment is for that Content to be visible to the general public.</li><li>When you create an account with TWC, we will use the information you submit only to process/manage your account activation and your TWC account. Any subsequent information that you submit to the TWC will be used for purposes of editing and publishing your Manuscript as explained in the <a href="http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/about/submissions#authorGuidelines">Author Guidelines</a>. We need such consent because your purpose in and reason for submitting your information is to submit a Manuscript to the TWC and/or be a paper reviewer for the TWC.</li><li>When you apply to be OTW personnel, you will be asked to share with the OTW Volunteers & Recruiting Committee, and any committee you apply to volunteer with, an email address that you actively check and use (which could be one you create for use solely in connection with the OTW volunteering you hope to do); and may be asked to share other personally identifying information in the course of the application process, including information of a professional certification and educational nature. You agree that any information provided as part of the process of applying to volunteer for the OTW will be processed and retained by the OTW, will be accessible by OTW website-management Personnel for technical and managerial purposes, and may be shared with members of the OTW Volunteers and Recruiting Committee, the OTW Board of Directors, and members of any committee with which the applicant seeks to work directly. We need this information because your purposes in and reason for submitting your information is to communicate with, have your application assessed by, and act as a volunteer for the OTW. As noted above, applicants and OTW Personnel, including members of the OTW Board of Directors, are asked to agree to a Code of Conduct that includes provisions regarding data collection, processing, and retention of additional information not included herein. This Privacy Policy augments, and does not replace, that Code of Conduct.</li><li>When you make a donation to the OTW and choose to become an OTW Member, you give informed and unambiguous consent that the personally identifying information that you submit in conjunction with your donation (“Donation Information”) can be collected, processed and retained for purposes of enabling you to vote for OTW Board Members, and for legal and accounting/auditing purposes. Donation Information includes your credit or debit card number, card expiration date, CVV code, cheque payment information and billing/payment account address (“Payment Information”). Payment Information is not retained or otherwise used at the OTW, but it is shared with payment services processors/providers to process payments; prevent, detect and investigate fraud or other prohibited activities; facilitate dispute resolution such as chargebacks or refunds; and for other purposes associated with the acceptance of credit or debit cards. Donation Information also includes the name and address that you submit as part of your Donation Information for purposes of sending you a thank-you gift if you request one; that information is shared with the package delivery company we use to deliver Member thank-you gifts. Members can opt out from receiving e-mails about subsequent fundraisers. If Members do not donate again within a year, they will receive a reminder in conjunction with the termination of their OTW Membership. We reserve the right to send Members emails regarding elections, site policy updates and other matters concerning the management and integrity of the OTW; and Members who have AO3 accounts will receive occasional e-mails regarding and related to the AO3 as specified in the AO3 Terms of Service.</li><li>If you donate to the OTW and do not choose to become an OTW Member, and do not donate anonymously, you agree to our sending you a donation receipt, as well as occasional e-mails about fundraising drives, elections, site policy updates and other matters concerning the management and integrity of the OTW. You further give informed and unambiguous consent that your Donation Information (as defined above) can be collected, processed and retained for legal and accounting/auditing purposes. Payment Information (as defined above) is not retained or otherwise used at the OTW, but it is shared with payment services processors/providers to process payments; prevent, detect and investigate fraud or other prohibited activities; facilitate dispute resolution such as chargebacks or refunds; and for other purposes associated with the acceptance of credit or debit cards. Donation Information also includes the name and address that you submit as part of your Donation Information for purposes of sending you a thank-you gift if you request one; that information is shared with the package delivery company we use to deliver Member thank-you gifts.</li><li>If you are an OTW Member, when you vote during an OTW Board Member election, you consent to our use of your email address in connection with sending you ballot and election information, as well as to confirm that you voted in a particular election(s); OTW Personnel do not have access to data that would allow them to determine which specific voters voted for which candidate(s). We need this information so that your vote can be collected, processed and retained for purposes of enabling you to vote for OTW board and for vote auditing purposes, to ensure that the vote process is fair and auditable. OTW reserves the right to use Opavote, a third party processor, to host and manage the election/voting process; Opavote does not use Member data for any purpose other than hosting and managing the election/voting process.</li></ol></li><li>E-mail Addresses: We collect e-mail addresses of and from those who communicate with us via e-mail or our comment forms, and record any Content or Personal Data included in e-mails to us. We need this information so we can respond to you, and so we can handle complaints and/or inquiries about the Service and any users who may have violated the Terms of Use or other policies, and for other legal and accounting/audit reasons including maintaining the integrity of the OTW and its Sites and the Content that we host;</li><li>IP Addresses: We collect and process the IP address of Users and store it for a limited amount of time unless it is required for legal or accounting purposes. We need this information so we can provide you with the Content that you are requesting, to allow you to submit Comments, and for other legal and accounting audit reasons including maintaining the integrity of the OTW and the Content that we host. During elections, our <a href="https://www.opavote.com/privacy">designated election manager</a> also collects and uses IP addresses to maintain the integrity of the election process. Certain IP information may be collected by the server for log purposes and used for limited technical assessments of the Service.</li><li>Server Logs: We collect and process logs of server interactions, as well as event logs. We need this information for legal and accounting/audit reasons, including maintaining the integrity of the OTW and the Content that we host.</li><li>Cookies: We use cookies to store visitors’ preferences; customize web pages based on visitors’ browser type or other information that the visitor sends. Cookies must be enabled for the OTW to function properly with your computer. The OTW has no access to cookies set by any sites other than OTW Services’ sites.</li><li>Indexing: TWC is indexed in major academic databases, open access directories, and services such as Google Scholar. Any information included in a Manuscript may thus be indexed by third parties including databases, directories and services pursuant to their Terms of Service and Privacy Policies.</li><li>Complaint Information: If we receive a complaint about a violation of someone’s intellectual property rights, we may retain such information. We reserve the right to disclose the information provided by the rightsholder or the rightsholder’s representative to the subject of the complaint.</li></ol></li></ol><h4>F. What we will not do:</h4><ol><li>The OTW will not provide any third party with any of your personal information or any of the information we collect, except as provided under our Terms of Service. We will not use your personally identifying information to market third party products and services to you.</li><li>We will not sell, trade, or rent your personally identifying information. Except as provided under this policy, we will not disclose your personally identifying information to any third party without your prior consent unless we (1) are legally compelled to do so, (2) have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order, or legal process served on the OTW, or (3) are cooperating with law enforcement authorities. As to (3), we will cooperate with all investigations conducted by law enforcement authorities within the United States of America when legally required to do so. Cooperation with law enforcement authorities from other countries and cooperation when it is not legally required are at our sole discretion. Our discretion looks favorably on freedom and justice, and unfavorably on oppression and violence.</li><li>Unless legally prohibited from doing so, we will attempt to notify you any time we disclose your personally identifying information to a third party. In some cases, the information we have, such as an IP address, may be insufficient for us to notify you.</li></ol></div></div></div></div></div><div id="footer" role="contentinfo"><div id="colophon"><div id="social-links"><ul><li> <a href="/contact_us" title="Contact Us" class="add-wpml"><i class="fas fa-envelope"></i></a></li><li> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/transformativeworks" title="Facebook"><i class="fab fa-facebook-f"></i></a></li><li> <a href="https://twitter.com/otw_news" title="Twitter"><i class="fab fa-twitter"></i></a></li><li> <a href="https://transformativeworks.tumblr.com" title="Tumblr"><i class="fab fa-tumblr"></i></a></li><li> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/organization-for-transformative-works" title="Linkedin"><i class="fab fa-linkedin-in"></i></a></li><li> <a href="https://vimeo.com/transformativeworks" title="Vimeo"><i class="fab fa-vimeo-v"></i></a></li><li> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/Transformativeworks" title="Youtube"><i class="fab fa-youtube"></i></a></li><li> <a href="https://github.com/otwcode/otwarchive" title="Github"><i class="fab fa-github"></i></a></li><li> <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/transformativeworks.org" title="Bluesky"><i class="fab fa-bluesky"></i></a></li><li> <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@transformativeworks" title="TikTok"><i class="fab fa-tiktok"></i></a></li><li> <a href="/feed" title="RSS"><i class="fas fa-rss"></i></a></li><li> <a href="/where-find-us" title="More" class="add-wpml"><i class="fas fa-plus"></i></a></li></ul></div><div id="legalese"> The Organization for Transformative Works has not received any National Security Letters or FISA court orders, and we have not been subject to any gag order by a FISA court. The Organization for Transformative Works is a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. 228 Park Ave S #18156 New York, New York 10003-1502, USA. All rights reserved.</div><div id="wpml-floating-language-switcher"><div class="lang_sel_list_horizontal wpml-ls-statics-shortcode_actions wpml-ls wpml-ls-legacy-list-horizontal" id="lang_sel_list"><ul><li class="icl-en wpml-ls-slot-shortcode_actions wpml-ls-item wpml-ls-item-en wpml-ls-current-language wpml-ls-first-item wpml-ls-last-item wpml-ls-item-legacy-list-horizontal"> <a href="https://www.transformativeworks.org/otw_tos/" class="wpml-ls-link"> <span class="wpml-ls-native icl_lang_sel_native">English</span></a></li></ul></div></div><script defer type="text/javascript" src="https://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-includes/js/comment-reply.min.js?ver=6.7.2" id="comment-reply-js" async="async" data-wp-strategy="async"></script><div id="meta-links"><ul><li> <a href="/otw_tos">Terms of Service</a></li><li> <a href="https://elections.transformativeworks.org/">Elections</a></li><li> <a href="/wp-login.php">Log In</a></li><li> <a href="https://donate.transformativeworks.org/otwgive">Donate</a></li><li> <a href="/press">Press</a></li><li> <a href="/contact_us" class="add-wpml">Contact Us</a></li></ul></div></div></div> </body></html>