Terms of Service
Handcarve exists to preserve and present fan-made work with care. Our aim is to make room for the utmost range of transformative creative expression, while maintaining a space that is thoughtful, fan-led, and noncommercial in spirit.
Handcarve is an independent fanworks archive and collective. We believe that fanworks are meaningful acts of interpretation, response, devotion, criticism, play, and memory. We support the right of fans to create in conversation with the stories they love, and we seek to honor the labor, imagination, and emotional seriousness that such work can hold.
Handcarve does not sell data that users post, submit, or share with us, and we do not include or accept paid advertisements from third parties. Our purpose is not to commercialize fan culture, but to provide a careful home for creative traces made outside the ordinary gates of publishing.
We strive to make our terms and policies readable. Where possible, we use plain language, explain unusual terms, and provide additional notes so that contributors and readers can better understand how Handcarve works.
I. Rules of Conduct
I.A. General Terms
Agreement: Handcarve hosts and presents content created by fans, for fans. Our Content Policy and Privacy Policy are part of these Terms of Service. By submitting a work, bookmark, comment, tag, link, text, image, audio file, video file, username, account information, personal information, or any other form of content to Handcarve, or by creating an account and/or accessing content on Handcarve, you affirm that you understand and agree to these Terms of Service.
Entirety of agreement: These Terms of Service constitute the agreement between you and Handcarve and govern your use of Handcarve. They replace any prior agreements or understandings concerning your use of Handcarve.
No assignment: These Terms are personal to you. You may not assign or transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms to another person or entity, and any attempted assignment or transfer is void.
I.B. Updates to the Terms of Service
Handcarve may update these Terms of Service, including the Content Policy and Privacy Policy, from time to time. When we make material changes, we will make reasonable efforts to disclose those changes on Handcarve or through another appropriate notice. Updated terms become effective when posted, unless otherwise stated.
These Terms cannot be changed by informal messages, emails, comments, or other communications with individual users.
I.C. Potential Problems with Handcarve
Handcarve is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. We do not warrant that Handcarve will meet your requirements, remain uninterrupted, remain secure, be error-free, or produce results that are accurate, reliable, or satisfactory to you.
If we learn of a breach that compromises the security or confidentiality of users’ personal information, we will take reasonable steps to notify affected users and any relevant authorities as required by applicable law.
Any material you access through Handcarve is accessed at your own risk. You are responsible for any damage, loss, or other consequences that may result from accessing, downloading, relying on, or interacting with content on Handcarve.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, Handcarve disclaims warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.
Handcarve may change, pause, restrict, remove, or discontinue parts of the service at any time. Handcarve is not intended to serve as a personal storage, backup, or file recovery service. You are responsible for keeping your own copies of any content you submit.
I.D. Content You Access When Using Handcarve
Handcarve may contain links to third-party sites or content hosted by third-party services. If you follow links away from Handcarve, you should review those sites’ terms and privacy policies. Handcarve does not control third-party sites and is not responsible for their content, policies, availability, or practices.
Some content displayed on or through Handcarve may be embedded from or hosted by third-party services. Embedded content may share data with the hosting service as if you had visited that service directly. Such content may be subject to the terms and privacy policies of the service that hosts it.
You understand that Handcarve may not prescreen all content before it appears on the site. Content is the responsibility of the person who submits it. Using Handcarve may expose you to material that you consider offensive, upsetting, inaccurate, objectionable, or otherwise unsuitable.
Handcarve does not necessarily endorse user-submitted content. Content appearing on Handcarve represents the work or expression of its submitter unless it is clearly marked as an official Handcarve statement.
I.E. What We Do with Content
Handcarve does not claim ownership of content you submit. You retain whatever rights you hold in your own work. Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of your content to Handcarve.
However, operating Handcarve requires us to store, copy, display, format, transmit, and make your submitted content available through the site. By submitting content to Handcarve, you grant Handcarve a worldwide, royalty-free, nonexclusive license to host, reproduce, display, distribute, format, and make that content available as needed to operate, maintain, promote, and improve the service.
This license exists for as long as your content remains available on Handcarve. If you remove content, or if Handcarve removes it, we will make reasonable efforts to make it unavailable to users. Backup copies may remain for a limited period for security, legal, administrative, or disaster recovery purposes.
Some content may appear in spaces that you do not fully control, such as comments, moderated areas, collaborative features, archived collections, or public discussions. In those cases, removal or retention may depend on the rules and technical limitations of that space.
Handcarve may preserve or disclose content if required by law, or if we believe in good faith that preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with legal process, enforce these Terms, respond to claims, protect users, protect Handcarve, or address safety, security, abuse, or rights-related concerns.
I.F. What You Cannot Do
You agree not to use Handcarve, including any Handcarve email addresses, pages, links, accounts, forms, servers, or services:
- to submit, post, link to, upload, display, or otherwise make available any content that violates our Content Policy;
- to impersonate any person, group, entity, Handcarve representative, contributor, moderator, volunteer, administrator, or site function, or to falsely state or misrepresent your affiliation with any person, group, or entity;
- to forge, disguise, or manipulate identifiers, headers, account information, routing information, authentication information, or other technical details in order to hide the origin of any content, message, submission, or activity;
- to make available content that a court has ruled infringes copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, privacy rights, publicity rights, or other rights of a third party;
- to use Handcarve for commercial activity, whether for direct or indirect commercial advantage, including advertising, spam, paid solicitation, unauthorized promotion, commercial scraping, or the collection of content for commercial reuse;
- to submit, upload, link to, or distribute software viruses, malware, malicious code, corrupted files, automated scripts, or other programs designed to interrupt, damage, monitor, limit, or interfere with any computer system, hardware, software, network, service, or telecommunications equipment;
- to interfere with, overload, disrupt, scrape, attack, reverse engineer, bypass, damage, or gain unauthorized access to Handcarve, Handcarve-hosted content, user accounts, servers, networks, or connected services;
- to create an account or submit content if you are not permitted to do so under our Age Policy;
- to use Handcarve in a way that violates sanctions, export controls, trade restrictions, or other legal restrictions that apply to you or to Handcarve; or
- to break any law, rule, regulation, or legal obligation that applies to you. Each user is responsible for understanding and following the laws that apply in their own location.
I.G. Registration and Email Addresses
As part of registration, you agree to provide an accurate and current email address and to keep that address updated. If your email address is inaccurate, inactive, unreachable, or no longer current, Handcarve may suspend, restrict, or close your account.
By registering for Handcarve or otherwise using an email address in connection with Handcarve, you state that the email address belongs to you or that you are authorized to use it, and that Handcarve may lawfully contact you at that address in connection with your account, submissions, policies, notices, moderation issues, security matters, or these Terms of Service.
I.H. Age Policy
Handcarve does not knowingly solicit or collect personal information from individuals who are not old enough to use the service under applicable law.
Individuals who are not permitted to create an account or submit content to Handcarve include:
- individuals under the age of thirteen (13); and
- individuals who are not old enough, in their country or region of residence, to consent to the processing of personal information without the permission of a parent or legal guardian.
These individuals may not create an account, submit content, upload files, or otherwise provide personal information to Handcarve. By creating an account or submitting content, you confirm that you are old enough to use Handcarve under this Age Policy and under the laws that apply to you.
If Handcarve determines that an underage or otherwise ineligible individual has created an account or submitted content, Handcarve may suspend or delete the account, hide or delete the content, restrict access, or take other appropriate action.
If you are under the required age, a parent or legal guardian may contact Handcarve or use their own account where permitted, but Handcarve may still restrict or decline submissions involving children’s personal information when necessary to comply with law or protect user safety.
I.I. Abuse Policy
Handcarve does not prescreen all content for violations of these Terms of Service or the Content Policy. Reports are reviewed when they are submitted through the appropriate reporting channel and include enough information for Handcarve to evaluate the issue.
Submitting a Report
Reports about abuse, policy violations, prohibited content, impersonation, harassment, spam, or other site misuse may be submitted through Handcarve’s designated reporting form or contact channel.
Copyright notices or other formal legal claims should be submitted through the legal contact channel identified by Handcarve. Legal notices may be handled separately from ordinary abuse or moderation reports.
Treatment of Reports
Reports are handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy and applicable law. Handcarve may review the reported content, related account activity, technical information, prior reports, and other relevant context when evaluating a report.
Handcarve may respond to reports at its discretion. We may not provide detailed updates, private information, internal reasoning, or final outcomes to every person involved in a report.
Resolution of Reports
When Handcarve determines that content violates these Terms, the Content Policy, or applicable law, we may hide, restrict, label, edit, remove, or disable access to that content.
When appropriate and when valid contact information is available, Handcarve may notify the creator or account holder and provide an opportunity to correct the issue. However, Handcarve may remove or restrict content immediately when we believe immediate action is necessary, including in cases involving illegal content, safety concerns, harassment, privacy violations, repeated violations, security risks, or legal exposure.
Handcarve may add, edit, remove, or require tags, labels, warnings, descriptions, or other metadata when necessary to support site organization, user safety, content discovery, moderation, or policy compliance.
Content without valid contact information, content submitted by an ineligible user, or content that presents an urgent legal, safety, privacy, or security concern may be removed without prior notice.
Penalties
Violations of these Terms may result in warnings, content restrictions, content removal, account limitations, temporary suspension, permanent suspension, deletion of accounts, or other appropriate action.
The action taken will depend on the nature, severity, and context of the violation, including whether the conduct was accidental or repeated, whether it affected other users, whether it created legal or safety risk, and whether the user cooperated in resolving the issue.
Handcarve may remove content in response to a threatened or pending legal claim, a rights-related concern, a safety concern, or a need to reduce legal exposure. Removal for those reasons does not necessarily mean that the user violated these Terms.
A suspended user may not create a new account, post content, edit content, submit material, or use another account to evade the suspension while the suspension remains in effect.
Appeals
A user affected by a moderation decision may request review through the appeal channel identified by Handcarve, if one is available. The original decision may remain in effect while the appeal is reviewed.
Handcarve will attempt to review appeals in a reasonable manner, but we do not guarantee any specific timeline or outcome. Decisions after appeal are final unless Handcarve chooses to reopen the matter.