Terms of Service

1. Agreement

By creating an account or using HowCanonIsIt (“the Service”), you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service. You must be at least 21 years old.

2. Community content — no liability for user submissions

The Service hosts user-generated content (“UGC”), including things, descriptions, votes, lists, comments-equivalent rankings, and flags. UGC is created by users, not by the website owners or operators (“Operators”).

Operators do not endorse UGC and are not responsible or liable for it. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Operators disclaim all liability arising from UGC, including claims of defamation, infringement, offense, inaccuracy, or harm caused by reliance on community material. You use the catalog at your own risk.

3. What you may submit

You may only submit content that:

• You have the right to submit (no IP theft of protected works as if owned);
• Is not illegal under applicable law;
• Does not involve sexual content involving minors (zero tolerance);
• Does not promote or instruct real-world violence, terrorism, or self-harm;
• Does not dox, harass, or threaten private individuals;
• Does not traffic in malware, scams, or fraud;
• Is not spam, scrape-flooding, or automated abuse;
• Does not primarily exist to spread hate crimes or targeted harassment.

Fictional, historical, artistic, or critical discussion of sensitive topics may appear in a community catalog; that does not waive the bans above. When in doubt, do not submit it — or flag it if you see it.

4. Curators and moderation helpers

Curators may be shown community-submitted material that violates these Terms, including depictions or descriptions of violence, self-harm, racism, or other harmful content, specifically so they can flag and remove it from Fan-facing surfaces. Curators agree to flag inappropriate material rather than amplify it.

5. Community votes are not final authority

Canon votes, duplicate merges, category tags, rankings, and taste scores are community signals. Operators retain sole and absolute discretion to make executive decisions about what content is permitted, removed, Canonized, demoted, merged, quarantined, or restored — including decisions that override or reverse community votes.

Multiple flags may quarantine content automatically; Operators may further suspend or terminate accounts, remove content without notice, or reinstate material when they judge it appropriate.

6. Your license to us

You keep ownership of your UGC. You grant Operators a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, display, reproduce, and adapt it solely to operate and improve the Service (including moderation, backups, and public catalog views you enable).

7. Accounts

You are responsible for your account credentials and activity. Operators may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms or that pose risk to other users.

8. Disclaimer & limitation of liability

The Service is provided “as is” without warranties of any kind. Operators are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of data, goodwill, or profits, arising from use of the Service or UGC, even if advised of the possibility — except where liability cannot be limited by law.

9. Changes

Operators may update these Terms. Continued use after changes means you accept the revised Terms. Material changes may be noted on this page.

10. Contact

Questions about these Terms: use the site owner account or project repository contact. Also see About and FAQ.