Toyhouse (original) (raw)

Rules

As a general rule of thumb, if a staff member asks you to discontinue an activity or a behaviour, please respect their decision. If you continue to ignore the instructions of a staff member, you may face temporary or permanent suspension.

1. Content

1.1. Prohibited Content

The following content is strictly prohibited in interactions or content in public areas of the site:

This will result in the content being removed, followed by a warning or suspension depending on intent, maliciousness and severity at the moderator's discretion.

Note that this does not include In Character, Roleplay related, or otherwise fictional content and scenarios, but it is the user's responsibility to clearly separate your IC and OOC content and intentions if you don't want to be misunderstood. Don't use your characters to be a dick, and vice versa - don't use this rule to report-troll another user for having an asshole for a character.

1.2. Content Filters

Toyhou.se provides the following content filters for categorisation of artwork:

Submission of material containing Explicit Sexual Content without being appropriately flagged (in the case of images) or containing a warning in the title (in the case of forum threads or bulletins) may result in your content being moderated or removed by site staff. Repetitive and intentional submission of unflagged material containing Explicit Sexual Content will result in warnings or account bans depending on severity and intent. Please be considerate of the users around you.

Material containing Nudity, Mild Sexual Content or Gore without an appropriate flag may have flags added for you by site staff without prior warning.

1.3. Sensitive Content

We encourage users to label publically listed characters, literatures, or threads with visible content warnings if the content contains potentially offensive or triggering content. This is not a rule that will lead to disciplinary action, but rather a note that administrators may elect to add content warnings to your characters or threads where we feel that it's necessary to protect other users.

Some content which may require content warnings:

This is not a comprehensive list; just do your best to be considerate to the people around you when creating content, especially if you're planning on publically listing or advertising the character.

Any changes made to your characters or forum posts will always be accompanied by a PM from an administrator to keep you informed. Repeatedly and consciously removing content warnings added by administrators may lead to your character or forum privileges being revoked, or a temporary or permanent suspension from the site.

2. Adult Content

2.1. Adult Content and Underage Users

If you are under 18, don't use this site to offer, request, or share adult content.

Don't use this site to offer or request adult content to or from users who you are aware are under the age of 18.

Adult content includes pornographic commissions, as well as pornographic artwork or literature, erotic RP, and detailed sexual headcanons (including character genitalia measurements, genitalia references, detailed sexual behaviour or kink lists, etc.).

Underage users who are found to be using a false birthday to upload or interact with adult material will be banned. There is no penalty if you file a ticket yourself to correct your date of birth, so if you find your birthday is incorrect we recommend filing a ticket to correct it right away. You can check your account's date of birth on the Account Settings Page.

2.2. Adult Content and Underage Characters

We do not host pornographic content involving characters described to be under 18 or described as resembling a person under the age of 18 (or equivalent age of maturity in non-human species).

To be clear: Pornographic content covers any content which an average person would reasonably believe was created for the purpose of sexual gratification (this includes "sex profiles" which list a character's genitalia measurements and kinks, as these only exist for the purpose of future sexual content or contact). If you want to include sexual experiences in an underage character's history for the purposes of telling a story or developing a character, you can do so as long as it's respectfully communicated, not pornographic, and is not otherwise fetishised or inappropriately detailed.

Do not offer or advertise pornography of underage characters on site, whether it is existing content or a service. This includes offering loli/shota/cub pornography in your commissions, putting underage characters up for sale or trade with descriptions like "additional porn available upon request", linking off-site to services in which you offer this content, or making underage characters available for sexual RP.

Artists who self-identify or market themselves prominently as a loli/shota/cub artist (even off-site), may have their account closed to prevent the distribution of content of this nature even if they have not uploaded explicit content on-site. If you are on site to share pornographic content of children, or meet other people who want to share pornographic content of children, rather than trying to get around this rule by uploading characters with unlisted ages or cropped images, we would urge you to find a different place to host your work. This is not content that we host or want to see a community for on site.

3. Character Usage & Ownership

3.1 Character Sourcing

All characters should be credited to the character’s designer at the time of upload.

Users who have a gallery in which the majority of submissions are miscredited will have their gallery frozen until the unsourced characters are either removed or sourced.

Characters that are not properly credited are not permitted to be advertised for sale, trade, or gifting on-site, and will be removed from the listings or the trade tag.

3.2 Character Disputes

Do not sell things that you do not own or have permission to sell. We defer to the Terms of Service of the original designer - if they do not permit re-sale or re-trade of their designs (or have other terms related to the trade of their designs) we will do our best to enforce this.

When reporting a character dispute we require the following:

If we find there is sufficient evidence that an transaction took place and wasn't honoured by a party, we can do our best to fulfill it to the best of our abilities on the TH side of business (that is, banning accounts, moving or deleting characters/artwork, etc.), but please note that we do not have the ability to force a user to pay or refund you.

3.3 Character Revocation

If you wish to revoke a design from someone after a completed transaction (for example, in the case of a retroactive blacklisting), please first ensure you have proof that you informed this user at the time of purchase that you have the right to confiscate the character, or that you retain ownership of the artwork and design upon sale. Having a rule covering this in your TOS also works, but we will require evidence that the recipient saw and accepted these terms.

4. Artwork Usage

4.1 Artwork Sourcing

Please ensure all artwork you use is used with permission and properly sourced.

When using free bases, stock photography, or other free assets, keep in mind that image sharing boards, Pinterest, Tumblr/Twitter re-posters, and other image aggregate sites do not constitute an original source. You must provide a direct and accurate link back to the original artist or photographer.

Sometimes re-posters may present themselves as the original source or give permission for people to use their edits when they have stolen the photography or artwork that they used as a base. If you upload this content to TH while erroneously stating it’s being used with permission, you will be held responsible for the theft. If in doubt, or if the source looks suspicious, just do not use the image.

4.2 Stock Photography

All photography posted or uploaded on site must be used with permission.

All photography uploaded to character icons, profiles or galleries must provide links back to the source. Please do not take screenshots from movies or TV shows and upload them to the site as character reference.

If you do not know the source of a photograph, or whether the photographer permits usage of their work, do not use the image.

Regarding Stock That Doesn't Require Credits

If photography has been taken from a free stock site which does not require a link back, placing blanket credits somewhere on your profile or on the character's profile is permitted. A short note like, "All photography used in these profiles has been taken from [link to the stock site(s)] and is being used with permission." would be sufficient. This must be a valid link. Please do not post a disclaimer like "None of the photography used in these profiles is mine, credit to the photographers.", as this does not constitute valid crediting.

Pinterest, Google Images, Tumblr/Twitter aesthetic accounts, etc. are image aggregates and do not qualify as free stock sites.

Here are some examples of stock sites where you can find photography that is free for use:

4.3 Moodboards

Moodboards or moodboard-making services should not be bought or sold on-site unless you are able to prove that all images used permit commercial use and are being used in compliance with the photographer or artist’s usage permissions.

All moodboards posted on site must provide links back to the source of every individual photograph used. If you have used images from a free stock site for your moodboards, you may provide a single link to the stock site.

4.4 Usage of Doll Makers / Character Generators

When using doll makers or other character-generating games you’ve found online, please verify the following:

We do not host trade or sale of doll maker characters or images unless you can verify the following:

4.5 Usage of Bases

When using bases or free lines, please add the credit for the base artist in the image description. This credit must include a complete link back to where you obtained the base.

Before uploading based artwork, please verify that they are legitimate uploads. There are frequent cases of people tracing artwork from anime screenshots or from other artists, then releasing the traced lines as free-to-use bases. We do not permit use of these bases unless they have been authorized by the original artist.

4.6 Unauthorized Artwork Usage

Do not use stolen fanart or artwork belonging to other users in any location on the site unless you have obtained permission to use it, or the artist has made a statement permitting use of their artwork in this manner. This includes user avatars, user profile layouts, folder icons, public forum threads/posts, public comments, etc., even when it is being used a placeholder.

Mainstream memes are exempt from this rule.

Please ensure that any fanart you use is clearly credited so we can verify that it is being used with permission. This credit should be provided in an accessible location (ideally your profile page).

4.7 Tracing

Do not upload traced artwork unless you have received permission from the artist to trace and re-upload their work.

5. Derivative Content

5.1. Canon Characters

We do not host canon character re-uploads. This includes:

Regarding Canon-Inspired Characters

We allow canon-inspired characters specifically where it's clear they're an original character who has been inspired by the canon content, rather than AU fanart and fanfic of a canon character. As long as your character has their own name, and a profile/design that reflects they're intended to be individual from the canon character and are not literally the canon character, they should be fine to upload. Adding some background to the character's profile to explain who they are will help a lot to ensure they don't get mixed up.

Don't advertise these as for sale or trade on-site.

We do not moderate visual similarities, but we reserve the right to take down profiles we believe have been made in bad faith. Please do not upload fanart of a canon character with a few letters of their name changed and a copy pasted profile.

5.2 Fandom Characters

We allow fandom characters that build on the existing species, setting, or plot of an existing published material as long as credit has been provided and the OC is not intended to represent an already existing character. This includes:

Fandom characters must contain explicit and clear credit back to the original content on their profile.

Please do not upload stolen fanart to the site while claiming it is of your OC. This is art theft and will get you banned.

Regarding Sale and Trade

Sale and trade of fandom characters on-site is fine but they must be clearly labeled as a fandom character. Should the recipient of a fandom-based design dispute the transaction due to not having been informed the character was a fandom character, you will be held responsible for refunding the transaction in full.

5.3 Real Persons and Real Person Fic

We do not host characters intended to depict real persons other than yourself, or pieces that focus on depiction of real persons other than yourself.

The following are examples of what is not permitted:

5.4. Usage of Official Assets

Do not upload official artworks, assets, or screenshots of characters from published content that does not belong to you to your character's profile to use as reference, or to represent your character. Here are some examples of what this means:

6. Conduct

6.1. Spamming and Flooding

Flooding is defined as taking up large portions of public site space while contributing no substantial content and is prohibited. While you can do as you like within semi-private areas, such as on your profile or on the profiles of your friends (with permission), please show consideration to other users when conducting yourself in a public area.

Spamming or flooding may lead to removal of the reported material and temporary or permanent suspension of your account depending on severity.

6.2. Ban or Block Circumvention

Creating new accounts to circumvent account bans or freezes may result in immediate permanent suspension of all your accounts. Repeated offences may lead to an IP ban.

Creating new accounts and using those accounts to communicate with, deal with, violate the terms of, or otherwise interact with a user who has blocked you, blacklisted you, or otherwise requested you to discontinue interacting with them, may result in immediate and permanent suspension of all your accounts. This includes but is not limited to: using new accounts to PM users or post in the threads of users who have blocked you, or using new accounts to participate in events or sales from users who have blacklisted or excluded you in some form from the event.

6.3. Report Etiquette

After reporting a user for behaviour related reasons do not continue to engage or bait them for responses.

6.4. Public Blacklisting

Public blacklisting is allowed strictly for the sake of protecting artists, customers, and everyone's respective business, but please do not start witch hunts. Informing and warning the community of negative business experiences is fine. Encouraging other users to harass or otherwise approach someone on your behalf is strictly prohibited.

Please keep in mind that hateful and insulting comments are not allowed. Keep any necessary blacklists or PSAs professional and respectful.