The short answer is that under our existing TOS, meta isn’t allowed, but this policy is currently under review. So at the moment we are not taking any actions regarding meta one way or another for the next few weeks.
The longer answer is that when the AO3 was originally set up, the OTW had a lot of conversations about what we could feasibly achieve, and decided that since there will always be limitations on server space, etc., the focus should be on fanworks that were likely to be under threat. Since meta doesn’t have the same legal issues associated with it as ‘creative/fictional’ fanworks (which are likely to be the target of cease & desist letters or similar), we felt that it was better able to find a home elsewhere – on journaling sites, personal websites, etc.
In the time since then, a little bit of meta has crept onto the AO3 more or less unnoticed (our Abuse team don’t actively police content unless it’s directly brought to their attention, so they have asked for some things to be removed in the past, but not everything). In the past week or so we’ve had a few questions about this, and looking over our Terms of Service we realised that they weren’t as clear about meta as they could be. In light of the fact that some people had posted meta in good faith, we decided we should review the policy before taking any further action. This matter was discussed by the Board and staff from various affected areas in the org.
Board decided that Abuse should suspend any action against meta already on the Archive until we’re able to further explore what a change would involve. Everyone in the OTW definitely sees meta as a valuable form of fan activity,- we just need to consider what we can practically support and what makes sense in the specific context of the AO3.
We’ll be posting about this in the next few weeks so this will be discussed publicly in the near future. For now, if you come across anyone who is thinking about posting meta on the AO3, please advise them not to until our public post comes out. If the meta is already posted, though, then no action will be taken for now. We’ll be communicating with our users further before taking any action one way or another.
Yet another anon (Guest)
Mon 16
Jul 201209:15AM UTC
Can I suggest a middle way? There are two main types of meta: meta that says 'I'm a real-life expert on X subject which is relevant to this fandom, and here's some info specifically to help you write fics about it' and meta that says 'Here's a subject relevant to the fandom, let's discuss it'. I'd be particularly sad to see the former type go, because it's a resource for writers, and AO3 is all about writers. So if you decide not to allow all meta maybe you could find a way to create a category that would allow those how-tos to stay?
Either way, thanks for thinking the policy through so carefully.
Comment on AO3 accounts and invitations
LucyP Sun 15 Jul 2012 10:10PM UTC
Last Edited Sun 15 Jul 2012 10:11PM UTC
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Yet another anon (Guest) Mon 16 Jul 2012 09:15AM UTC
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