Rules of the Booru

Last updated

Revision history

#0 Be excellent to each other

This is the most important rule.

  • Attempts to antagonize others will not be tolerated.
  • Do not troll, attack, insult, name-call, or otherwise try to intentionally antagonize another person or group of people. This includes making racial, sexual, homophobic, or otherwise demeaning slurs, or posting similarly abusive content.
  • Criticism is welcome and encouraged when done so in a constructive and helpful manner. However, using baseless, unconstructive criticism as a veil for the purpose of insulting or attacking an image and/or an artist is not allowed.
  • This rule applies to all images, comments, forum posts, and private messages, along with all other interactions you may make on this website.

#1 Respect artists and their artwork

Furbooru is a website dedicated to the furry fanart community. Without the thousands of artists creating such art, we would not have much of a site at all. Therefore, it is important to always respect the wishes of the artists regarding their artwork.

  • Do not upload edited versions of other people's artwork without either their permission (ideal) or a reasonable expectation that they are alright with such (such as a blanket "edits are ok" statement) “Edits” consisting only of AI manipulation or upscaling are not allowed.
  • Do not upload artwork that has not been publicly released, or is intended to remain private or restricted access, without permission from the artist who made it. This includes paid content, such as Patreon-only images or images from an art pack or folio.
  • Do not upload commercial content. This includes screencaps and clips of TV shows and movies, scans of printed comics, or anything else that was created and published for profit, regardless if it's publicly available or not.
  • Publicly released promotional artwork and/or advertisement art is allowed under the requirement of official arttag.
  • Images that have been released on a pay-what-you-want scheme, as well as images from a "free version" of a paid art pack, must be released for at least one week (seven days) before they may be posted on this site. Then, only content which can be obtained for free may be posted.

#2 Properly tag and source images

Furbooru's most defining feature is our tagging system, which is what organizes all images on our site and allows anyone to find exactly what they're looking for and hide whatever they may not wish to see. Anyone can edit tags to help organize the site better, but it is important to keep tags consistent and accurate.

  • All images must have at least one or more ratings tags. Note that the "safe" tag is overridden by any other rating tag.
  • If an image is not properly or adequately tagged, please correct it yourself if possible, or report the image if you are not able to correct the tags.
  • If you feel like someone is consistently not tagging images properly or adequately, please report them to the site's staff.
  • If there’s disagreement over tagging/sourcing, defer to staff judgment, and report as necessary.
  • For each of an image’s artists, tag in the format "artist:name". Use "artist needed" if no artist is known. Use "anonymous artist" for artists who've stated they do not wish to be associated with their image(s).
  • Tags should describe the "facts" of the image, such as the characters inside the image, events happening, the image's composition, and so on. Tags should not state opinions.
  • Images originally posted elsewhere should have its URL for source.
  • Tags should be useful to the site overall. Do not create tags for personal organization, or with very vague or inconsistent definitions.
  • Tag and source vandalism will not be tolerated. This includes bulk changes, such as removing tags without permission from site's staff.

#3 Do not upload unrelated content

This site is intended for images related to the furry fandom. While we do have a fairly generous stance of what is allowed, content that is clearly not related to the furry fandom may be removed.

  • In general, do not upload images without a clear relation to the furry fandom and it's surrounding community.
  • An image is not necessarily related to the furry fandom just because a reference to the fandom is in it. For example, pasting a furry character into an otherwise unrelated image does not make it furry-related.
  • Content unrelated to the furry fandom may be uploaded if it has value to the site (such as a furry artist drawing a fan art of something else), or some other meaning, or indirect relationship to the fandom, otherwise it will be reviewed on case-by-case basis, and may be removed.
  • Additionally, as defined in the not furry tag, the following is permitted, as long as it is appropriately tagged with the "not furry" tag:
    • Non-furry images in furry settings/series, like a page of a comic about furry character and a human that only shows the human.
    • Non-furry anthropomorphic content, such as robots, sapient objects, or most types of aliens.
    • Furry adjacent/derived content, such as humanizations of furry characters or non-furry representations.
    • Other fandom art that presents value to the site, which is judged on a case-by-case basis by the site staff.
    • No AI generated images are allowed except as the inspiration or basis for a manually finished art piece. Raw AI images are considered to be of poor quality due to artifacts such as malformed anatomy or impossible geometry, as well as “ghost” signatures from the training data, and are therefore uncreditable. Any images that used AI as part of the creation process must be tagged Machine Learning Assisted and have an editor:tag present to a valid source.

#4 Use filters to hide unwanted content and follow local content law

Furbooru is extremely permissive as to what we allow on this website, which means we allow images and content that some may find objectionable, or may be illegal in certain jurisdictions. To help you avoid such content, we have a tag filtering system which allows for hiding of images with specific tags.

  • If you see images that contain themes you do not like, or that you are unable to view in your jurisdiction, you should add the appropriate tags to your filter. Do not post comments complaining about the theme of the image.
  • If you find an image that you believe violates the site's rules or content guidelines, please report the image so that the site's staff may look into it. Do not post comments claiming an image violates the site's rules.
  • Do not indiscriminately downvote images based on their tags and/or content. Instead, filter content you do not wish to see.

#5 Do not post illegal or forbidden content

While Furbooru does allow a broad range of content, certain themes are not welcome on the website.

  • Do not upload any content that involves underaged characters in sexualized situations. This includes "cub porn", "foalcon", and "lolicon". This includes images that would be rated "suggestive" or higher per our tagging guidelines. Note that age is based solely on visual appearance. In certain exceptional cases, staff may consider artist's intent when determining character's age, however stating that "they look six but are actually sixty" is not an acceptable excuse and will be ignored.
  • Do not upload any content that contains hate speech or nazi propaganda. This includes content that promotes nazi ideals, and content that promotes hatred and/or discrimination against others based on race, gender, religion or sexuality.
  • Do not upload photos and videos taken in real life that depict humans involved in sexual acts with animals nor discuss such real-life scenarios.
  • Do not upload art that's meant to realistically emulate bestiality (humans x lifelike feral animals in sexual situations).

#6 Do not abuse site functionality (including multiple accounts) or derail discussion

Furbooru allows users to have multiple accounts, and allows users to post anonymously (including without using an account). However, this does leave open the possibility of abuse, so certain things are not permitted.

  • You are permitted to have multiple accounts for purposes of roleplaying, maintaining different sets of filters, or for personal privacy.
  • You may not use multiple accounts or anonymous posting for the purposes of evading bans, voting on images multiple times, sockpuppeting, or otherwise appearing to be multiple people within the same conversation.
  • Do not spam or put off-topic content – especially fetishes or roleplay – in comments/forum posts/reports. Roleplay is generally only on-topic in the roleplay forum.
  • If you think someone is violating a rule, submit a report instead of otherwise calling them out (such as with a comment). Don’t submit reports in bad faith, such as frivolous reports to attack others.
  • Do not upscale or otherwise manipulate images to artificially create a "better" image for duplicate merging.
  • You may not post images or image descriptions that are intended to game the site's vote system by offering specific incentives (such as alternative versions of an image) in exchange for upvotes, downvotes, or faves.
  • You may not post images intended as "reminder" posts for your announcement or advertisement posts (such as YCH announcement posts), as well as upload a "better" version of your advertisement post for the sole purpose of cheating the deduplication system to bump your post to the home page. Abusing this particular point may get you banned!
  • Do not impersonate Furbooru staff, such as by setting your "personal title" or username to anything closely resembling those of a staff member.

#7 Respect ratings and unfilterable content

We allow content of many kinds, and one must be mindful where and how adult, graphic, or seizure-inducing content is posted. Our ratings distinguish levels of sexuality, grossness, and darkness for these purposes.

  • Forum threads intended to contain sexual and/or graphic posts should be marked with [NSFW] in the title.
  • Content in comments/posts above the image/thread’s rating must be surrounded with [spoiler][/spoiler] tags and, if multiple ratings above, have a clear warning.
  • Above-rating content cannot be the entire point of a comment/post.
  • Content that may cause seizures, like rapid flashing, must be spoilered and come with a clear warning.
  • Avatars and personal titles can’t be spoilered, and thus must not be seizure-inducing. Avatars may be suggestive at best, but may not contain nudity or exposed breasts/genitals.
  • Swearing and foul language is not prohibited at any rating level, so long as it is not excessive or aggressive.

#8 Respect privacy

As noted above, this site allows a wide variety of content, and some people may not necessarily wish for their names to be publicly associated with such content. Furbooru takes privacy extremely seriously, and attempting to breach one's privacy is strictly prohibited.

  • If you are aware of an artist or member using multiple names/aliases to keep content separate (such as clean vs sexual content), or using an alternative name as to not be identified, do not call them out or publicly highlight such a fact.
  • Do not share private or personal information about a third party, such as personal contact information, private messages, off site conversations, and other information that they may not want publicly known, without their permission.

#9 Commissions

Commissions may be advertised on Furbooru, but some rules and restrictions apply.

  • Any advertisements for commissions may only contain example artwork that was created entirely by the person advertising said commissions. Using another person’s artwork in an advertisement is not allowed.
  • Always use caution and your own discretion when discussing commissions. Furbooru will not be responsible for, nor able to assist with, any disputes, incomplete transactions, or otherwise undesirable outcomes that result from advertising, seeking, or arranging commissions on this site.
  • All commission agreements are between the artist and commissioner only. Furbooru will not and should not be considered a party in any agreement involving commissions.
  • You may not advertise any commissions for content that would violate site rules or any applicable laws. Basically, anything that cannot be hosted on Furbooru cannot be advertised either.

#n Rules are not exhaustive

There may always arise situations that were not accounted for in the above rules, or that may be unique or extraordinary in their circumstances. All enforcement of the rules, as well as the decision as to whether something is or is not acceptable, is ultimately left up to the discretion of the site's staff.