Community Guidelines

Last Updated: February 10, 2026|Effective Date: February 10, 2026

Introduction

These Community Guidelines set the standards for content and behavior on StoryForMoney. All users — including readers, creators, NFT buyers, licensees, and advertisers — are expected to follow these guidelines. Violation may result in content removal, account suspension, or permanent ban. These guidelines supplement our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, NFT Purchase Agreement, and all applicable licensing agreements.

The Platform may review, moderate, reclassify, or remove content at its discretion. However, any review or moderation action by the Platform — including approval, reclassification, or non-removal of content — does not constitute an endorsement, verification, or guarantee of the content's legality, originality, accuracy, or compliance with these guidelines or any applicable law. Creators remain solely responsible for ensuring their content complies with all applicable laws and these Community Guidelines.

1. Content Rating System

All content published on StoryForMoney must be assigned an appropriate content rating by the creator at the time of publication. Misrating content is a violation of these guidelines.

Teen (T)— Young adult literature level — no sexual, graphic violence, or substance abuse content

Healthy themes like school life, adventure, friendship, and coming-of-age stories. No sexual content, no graphic violence, no substance abuse depictions. Mild conflict and emotional themes are acceptable.

School drama, fantasy adventure, sports stories, light mystery

General (G)— Adult general audience — mature themes permitted, no explicit content

May include mature themes, romance (non-explicit), moderate violence, dark or complex themes, morally ambiguous characters, and depictions of alcohol or tobacco use. No explicit sexual content, no gratuitous gore.

Crime fiction, political thriller, war drama, romantic drama

Mature (M)— Adults only 18+, age verification required

May contain explicit sexual content, graphic violence, gore, dark psychological themes, depictions of substance abuse, or other content suitable only for mature audiences. All content must still comply with the Prohibited Content rules below.

Explicit romance, horror with graphic scenes, psychological thriller with disturbing themes

Misrating Policy

If the Platform determines that content has been assigned an incorrect rating, the Platform will reclassify the content and notify the creator. Repeated or intentional misrating (especially rating Mature content as Teen) is treated as a serious violation and may result in immediate account suspension.

2. Prohibited Content

The following content is strictly prohibited on StoryForMoney regardless of content rating. This list applies to all forms of content including stories, comments, profile pages, NFT descriptions, and advertising materials.

Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)

Immediate permanent ban

Any content that depicts, promotes, or sexualizes minors in any way. This includes fictional depictions. Zero tolerance — immediate permanent ban and report to relevant authorities.

Non-Consensual Sexual Content

Content removal, account suspension or ban depending on context

Content that glorifies, promotes, or provides instructional guidance for sexual assault, rape, or non-consensual sexual acts. Fictional depictions that portray such acts as heroic, desirable, or consequence-free are prohibited. Literary works that address these themes critically or as part of serious narrative are permitted under the Mature rating with appropriate content warnings.

Terrorism and Violent Extremism

Immediate permanent ban

Content that promotes, recruits for, or provides operational support to terrorist organizations or violent extremist movements. Content that glorifies mass violence or provides instructional guidance for carrying out attacks.

Illegal Activity Instructions

Content removal, potential permanent ban

Step-by-step instructions for manufacturing illegal drugs, weapons, explosives, or other illegal items. Content that facilitates human trafficking, fraud, or other serious crimes.

Doxxing and Privacy Violations

Content removal, account suspension

Publishing another person's private personal information (real name, address, phone number, financial information, identification documents) without their consent. This applies regardless of whether the person is a public figure.

Malware and Phishing

Immediate permanent ban

Content that contains or links to malware, phishing sites, or other malicious software. Includes deceptive links disguised as legitimate content.

Hate Speech

Content removal, escalating penalties

Content that promotes violence, hatred, or discrimination against individuals or groups based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or other protected characteristics. Literary works that depict such themes for critical examination, historical portrayal, or character development are permitted with appropriate context and content ratings.

Non-Consensual Sexual Depiction of Real Persons

Content removal, account suspension or ban depending on context

Creating explicit sexual or pornographic content depicting real, identifiable individuals (including public figures and celebrities) without their consent. Such content is prohibited regardless of whether it is labeled as fiction, as it may violate the subject's right of publicity, reputation, and personal dignity. Non-sexual literary works based on real persons (e.g., biographical fiction, historical novels) are permitted, provided they avoid malicious fabrication or defamation.

Suicide and Self-Harm Promotion

Content removal, account suspension or ban depending on context

Content that glorifies, promotes, encourages, or provides instructional guidance on methods of suicide or self-harm. This includes content that romanticizes, heroicizes, or presents suicide as aspirational, as well as step-by-step instructions for suicide or self-harm methods. Literary works that address suicide or self-harm themes critically, for mental health education, or as part of serious narrative are permitted under appropriate content ratings, provided they include content warnings and mental health resource information.

3. Intellectual Property and Originality

Original Content

You must only publish content that you created or have the legal right to publish.
Copying, reproducing, or closely paraphrasing another creator's work without authorization constitutes plagiarism and is strictly prohibited.
Using AI tools (including but not limited to large language models, image generators, and writing assistants) for content creation is permitted and welcome on StoryForMoney. If applicable laws or Platform policies in the future require disclosure of AI-assisted or AI-generated content, creators must comply with such requirements as notified by the Platform.

Derivative Works

Derivative creation is a core feature of StoryForMoney. Original creators can authorize others to create derivative works, fostering a collaborative creative ecosystem.

Supported Derivative Types

Translation

Translate the original work into other languages

Fan Fiction

Create new stories based on the original work's characters, world, or setting

Artwork

Create visual art, illustrations, or manga adaptations based on the original work

NFT Derivatives

Mint derivative NFTs based on the original work

How It Works

The original creator enables Derivative Authorization on their work (requires Reader Verification to be enabled first).

The derivative author enters the original work's Book ID when creating their new work.

The Platform automatically verifies the authorization and links the two works.

All derivative income is automatically split between the derivative author and the original creator. Settlement is handled automatically by the Platform.

For complete details on derivative revenue sharing, platform fees, and settlement, see the Fee Schedule.

Derivative works are automatically displayed as derivative on the Platform and linked to the original work.
The original creator may revoke derivative authorization at any time. Upon revocation, existing derivative works may remain published but no new derivative works may be created.
The Platform's derivative authorization system only applies to original works published on StoryForMoney. Derivative works based on external works (e.g., fan fiction of published novels, movies, anime, games, or other copyrighted material from external sources) are NOT covered by the Platform's authorization system.
Creating such works without obtaining proper authorization from the original rights holder may constitute copyright infringement under applicable law. The Platform does not verify, endorse, or assume any responsibility for the copyright status of external works or the legality of derivative works based on them.
Such works are permitted on the Platform for reading and community engagement purposes only, and are NOT eligible for: (a) commercial licensing; (b) NFT minting; (c) advertising revenue sharing; (d) any form of monetization through the Platform.
The creator bears sole and complete legal responsibility for ensuring they have the right to create and publish such derivative works.
The Platform will cooperate with legitimate rights holders and comply with DMCA takedown requests for infringing content. The Platform shall not be held liable for any claims, damages, or legal actions arising from a user's unauthorized use of third-party copyrighted material.

Copyright Complaints (DMCA)

If you believe your copyrighted work has been published on StoryForMoney without authorization, you may submit a copyright takedown notice in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Notices should be sent to [email protected] and must include: (a) identification of the copyrighted work; (b) identification of the infringing content with URL; (c) your contact information; (d) a statement of good faith belief; (e) a statement under penalty of perjury; (f) your physical or electronic signature. We will expeditiously process valid notices, typically within 1-3 business days of receipt.

Counter-Notice

If your content was removed due to a copyright complaint and you believe the removal was in error, you may submit a counter-notice including: (a) identification of the removed content; (b) a statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief the content was removed in error; (c) your consent to jurisdiction in the Federal District Court for the District of Delaware; (d) your physical or electronic signature. If a valid counter-notice is received, the complainant has 14 business days to file a court action before the content may be restored.

Repeat Infringer Policy

In accordance with the DMCA, StoryForMoney maintains a policy of terminating accounts of users who are repeat copyright infringers. Three (3) valid copyright strikes within any 12-month period will result in permanent account termination.

4. NFT and Commercial Licensing

NFT Minting Rules

Only original works are eligible for NFT minting. Derivative works based on other creators' works on the Platform may be minted only with explicit authorization from the original creator, which is managed through the Platform's authorization system.
Derivative works based on external (non-Platform) works are NOT eligible for NFT minting under any circumstances.
The creator must be the rightful owner of the content being minted. Minting content you do not own is a serious violation that may result in permanent account ban.
NFT ownership does not grant intellectual property rights. Buyers receive only token ownership and personal non-commercial display rights as specified in the NFT Purchase Agreement.
Creators must not make false or misleading claims about the rights or value associated with their NFTs.

Commercial Licensing Eligibility

Only original works are eligible for commercial licensing through the Platform.
Derivative works are NOT eligible for commercial licensing, regardless of whether the original creator authorized the derivative work.
Creators who list works for commercial licensing must have signed the Exclusive IP Licensing Agency Agreement with the Platform.
Pricing must be set in good faith at reasonable market levels, in accordance with the Agency Agreement.
Creators must not circumvent the Platform's exclusive agency by licensing works through other channels during the term of the Agency Agreement.

5. Community Behavior

Respectful Interaction

Treat all community members with respect, including creators, readers, and platform staff.
Disagreement and constructive criticism are welcome. Personal attacks, insults, and harassment are not.
Do not send unsolicited messages repeatedly after being asked to stop.
Do not impersonate other users, creators, or platform staff.

Harassment Policy

The following behaviors constitute harassment and are prohibited:

Targeted, repeated, and unwanted contact with another user after being asked to stop
Coordinated campaigns to mass-report, downvote, or harass a specific user
Threats of physical violence, doxxing, or real-world harm
Sexual harassment, including unwanted sexual comments, advances, or requests
Stalking behavior, including monitoring another user's activity to intimidate them
Encouraging others to harass a specific individual

Spam and Manipulation

Do not post repetitive, irrelevant, or promotional content in comments, forums, or messages.
Do not use bots, scripts, or automated tools to artificially inflate views, likes, followers, or other engagement metrics.
Do not create multiple accounts to circumvent bans, manipulate rankings, or artificially boost content.
Do not engage in fake reviews, paid rating manipulation, or review exchange schemes.

Scams and Fraud

Do not deceive other users for financial gain, including fake giveaways, phishing, or impersonation scams.
Do not create fake NFT listings or misrepresent the content associated with an NFT.
Do not use the Platform's tipping, reward, or payment systems for money laundering or other illegal financial activity.
Do not promote external investment schemes, pyramid schemes, or multi-level marketing through the Platform.

6. Account Integrity

Each person may only maintain one active account, unless explicitly authorized by the Platform for business purposes (e.g., separate creator and publisher accounts).
Account sharing is not permitted. Your account credentials must not be shared with others.
You must provide accurate information during registration and KYC verification. Providing false identity information is grounds for immediate permanent ban.
If your account is suspended or banned, you may not create a new account to circumvent the ban. Ban evasion accounts will be terminated immediately.
You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account.

7. Creator Responsibilities

Assign the correct content rating to all published works. See Section 1 for rating definitions.
Add appropriate content warnings (trigger warnings) for sensitive themes including but not limited to: suicide, self-harm, sexual assault, child abuse, graphic violence, and eating disorders.
Respond to legitimate copyright complaints promptly and in good faith.
If you have signed an Exclusive IP Licensing Agency Agreement, comply with all obligations under that agreement including exclusivity, non-circumvention, and cooperation requirements.
When a work is minted as an NFT, its content is permanently uploaded to the IPFS decentralized storage network. Deleting the work from the Platform does not affect the NFT or its content — NFT holders retain full access to the IPFS-stored content and all rights specified in the NFT Purchase Agreement regardless of the work's Platform status. The Platform will take all reasonably available technical measures to restrict access to violating NFT content, but due to the decentralized nature of the IPFS network, the Platform cannot guarantee complete removal of content from all nodes.
Maintain accurate and up-to-date contact and payment information.
Disclose any material conflicts of interest, including paid promotions, sponsored content, and affiliate relationships.

8. Reader and Buyer Responsibilities

Respect content ratings and do not access age-restricted content if you are under the required age.
Do not redistribute, copy, or commercially use creators' works without authorization.
NFT purchases grant token ownership only, not intellectual property rights. Do not claim authorship or commercial rights based on NFT ownership.
If you hold a commercial license, comply with all terms of the Commercial IP License Agreement including reporting, royalty, and usage restrictions.
Report content that violates these guidelines using the report function. Do not abuse the report system to harass creators.
Do not use automated tools to scrape, download, or bulk-copy content from the Platform.

9. Advertising on the Platform

All advertising on StoryForMoney is governed by our separate Advertising Policy. Key community-facing rules include:

All advertisements must be clearly labeled as 'Ad', 'Sponsored', or 'Promoted'.
Creators who participate in paid promotions or sponsored content must clearly disclose the relationship.
Users may not disguise advertising as organic content (reviews, comments, stories).
Self-service ads must comply with both these Community Guidelines and the Advertising Policy.
Ads that violate the Prohibited Content rules in Section 2 will be removed immediately.

10. Enforcement and Escalation

Violations are categorized by severity. The Platform reserves the right to skip escalation levels for serious violations.

Level 1 — Notice

Trigger: First-time minor violations (e.g., incorrect content rating, missing attribution, minor spam)

Action: Written notice explaining the violation. Content may be reclassified or removed. No account restrictions.

Appeal Window: N/A

Level 2 — Warning + Content Removal

Trigger: Repeated minor violations or first-time moderate violations (e.g., plagiarism, harassment, misleading NFT descriptions)

Action: Formal warning recorded on account. Offending content removed. Some features may be temporarily restricted (e.g., commenting, NFT minting).

Appeal Window: 14 days

Level 3 — Temporary Suspension

Trigger: Continued violations after warning, or first-time serious violations (e.g., significant copyright infringement, fraud, severe harassment)

Action: Account suspended for 7 to 90 days depending on severity. During suspension: no publishing, no commenting, no NFT minting, no license transactions. Existing licenses and NFTs remain valid.

Appeal Window: 14 days

Level 4 — Permanent Ban

Trigger: Violations after suspension, or first-time critical violations (CSAM, terrorism content, malware, identity fraud, repeat copyright infringement)

Action: Account permanently terminated. All content removed from Platform. Existing NFTs remain on blockchain but Platform content access is revoked. Existing commercial licenses remain governed by their respective agreements. Reported to law enforcement where required by law.

Appeal Window: 30 days (one appeal only)

Important Notes

The Platform may skip directly to any level based on the severity of the violation.
CSAM, terrorism content, and malware distribution always result in immediate permanent ban with no prior warning.
Enforcement actions are applied per account, not per work. A single serious violation affects the entire account.
During any suspension, the creator's obligations under existing agreements (Agency Agreement, commercial licenses) remain in full force. Suspension does not constitute grounds for the creator to claim breach by the Platform.
Enforcement decisions are made by the Platform's Trust & Safety team and are final, subject to the appeals process.

11. Appeals Process

Appeals must be submitted in writing to [email protected] within the appeal window specified for each enforcement level.
The appeal must include: (a) your account identifier; (b) the specific enforcement action being appealed; (c) your reasoning for why the action was incorrect; (d) any supporting evidence.
The Platform will review the appeal and respond within 14 business days.
Appeal decisions are final. Each enforcement action may only be appealed once. This appeals process does not affect the user's right to seek external remedies under the dispute resolution provisions of the Terms of Service.
Filing an appeal does not suspend the enforcement action during the review period.

12. Impact on Contractual Agreements

For creators who have signed the Exclusive IP Licensing Agency Agreement or who have works with active commercial licenses:

Account suspension or ban does NOT terminate existing commercial licenses granted to third-party licensees. Those licenses remain governed by their respective Commercial IP License Agreements.
Account suspension or ban does NOT release the creator from obligations under the Agency Agreement, including non-circumvention and post-termination obligations.
During account suspension, the Platform continues to collect and distribute royalties and license fees for existing active licenses. The creator's share will be held and distributed upon account reinstatement, or handled in accordance with the Agency Agreement upon permanent termination.
A permanent ban constitutes grounds for the Platform to initiate termination of the Agency Agreement under Article 5.4 (Termination for Cause) if the ban is due to the creator's breach of representations or warranties.
NFTs already transferred to buyers remain on the blockchain and are not affected by the creator's account status.
If an original creator's account is permanently banned due to plagiarism, copyright infringement, illegal content, or other serious violations, ALL derivative works based on that creator's works will be immediately taken down from the Platform. Derivative creators will no longer be able to earn revenue from those derivative works, and no new derivative works may be created based on the banned creator's content. This measure is necessary because the underlying original work has been determined to be infringing or illegal, and all works derived from it are therefore potentially tainted. Affected derivative creators may submit an appeal or seek recourse independently if they believe they have legitimate rights.

13. Reporting Violations

How to Report

Use the 'Report' button on any content, comment, or profile to flag a violation.
For urgent matters (CSAM, imminent threats, illegal activity), email [email protected] with subject line 'URGENT: [description]'.
For copyright complaints, follow the DMCA process described in Section 3.

Reporter Protections

All reports are treated confidentially. The identity of the reporter will not be disclosed to the reported user. Retaliation against a reporter is itself a violation and will be treated as harassment. However, filing false or malicious reports is also a violation and may result in enforcement action against the reporter.

14. Minor Protection Reporting Mechanism

StoryForMoney is committed to protecting minors from harmful content. To enforce this commitment, the Platform provides a dedicated Minor Protection Report mechanism on all Mature-rated content.

Report Button

A dedicated "Minor Protection Report" button is displayed on all Mature-rated (M) content pages. Any registered user may use this button to report content they believe involves the depiction, promotion, or sexualization of minors.

Immediate Takedown

Upon submission of a Minor Protection Report, the reported work is immediately taken down and frozen. The work becomes inaccessible to all users (including the author) until the administrative review is complete. This immediate takedown policy reflects the severity with which the Platform treats potential harm to minors — the Platform errs on the side of caution and removes content first, then investigates.

Administrative Review Process

The Platform's Trust & Safety team will review the reported content as a priority matter. During the review period:

The reported work remains frozen and inaccessible to all users.
The author is notified that their work has been reported and is under review.
The review will be conducted within 24 hours on business days.
The work will remain in frozen status until the review is fully completed — there is no automatic restoration based on time elapsed.

Review Outcomes

No Violation Found

If the review determines that the reported content does not violate the Platform's policies regarding minor protection, the work will be automatically restored and made accessible again. The author will be notified of the restoration.

Violation Confirmed

If the review confirms that the content violates the Platform's minor protection policies, the work will be permanently deleted from the Platform. The author's account will be subject to enforcement actions as described in Section 10, up to and including immediate permanent ban and reporting to relevant law enforcement authorities.

False Reporting

The Minor Protection Report mechanism is a critical safety tool and must not be abused. Filing false or malicious Minor Protection Reports — including reports made to harass creators, suppress competing works, or disrupt the Platform — is a serious violation. Users who file false Minor Protection Reports may face enforcement actions including account suspension or permanent ban, as described in Section 10.

15. Changes to These Guidelines

We may update these Community Guidelines as our platform evolves. Material changes will be announced at least 14 days before taking effect through Platform notifications and email to registered users. Continued use of the Platform after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated guidelines.

16. Contact

General inquiries: [email protected]

Trust & Safety reports: [email protected]