fotocommunity Community Standards

Be a valuable member of fotocommunity by…

engaging with the community and participating actively.

taking a firm stand against hate speech and discrimination.

formulating discussions and critiques constructively.

communicating appreciatively and kindly at all times.

being tolerant of things that don’t match your taste or views.

being there for others and sharing your knowledge.

What we wish for good interactions

We are all part of a big community

The internet brings particular challenges to how we interact. Purely written exchanges, without hearing the voice or seeing facial expressions and gestures, increase the potential for conflict. Anonymity on online platforms can also lead to people acting differently than in face‑to‑face encounters.

Here we present our guidelines and appreciate your help in fostering a good and relaxed atmosphere in fotocommunity.

We invite you to convince other users of the value of good interactions — by setting a good example and, when needed, by kindly reminding them of these guidelines.

There’s a human being on the other side

Communication isn’t always easy. Always remember there’s a person on the other side who may be hurt by your words. Conscious and considerate wording can go a long way to defuse written statements and support good interactions.

We consciously ask for nonviolent, respectful language — both publicly and in private messages.

Clear rules, long established in real life, help:

Treat others with respect.
Posts and comments that attack, demean or comment on a member, a photo or a person depicted in a photo with a sexist or overly intrusive approach are not welcome.
Never phrase your feedback in a derogatory way.
There is no “bad” — things may simply be different or not to your taste.
Give feedback from your own perspective, not generalizing.
Prefer “I feel this detail is…” or “From my point of view you could…” rather than writing that “one should have…” General one‑liner remarks like “This is crap!” or “What nonsense!” are unwelcome.
Keep feedback constructive.
Phrase it in a way the recipient can benefit from. Criticism should be continued with “…, because …”. Only then can the recipient understand your view and has a starting point for their own considerations.

Feedback is good!

Not every critique of your image or discussion post is a criticism of you as a person. Don’t take critical feedback personally. See it as a chance to reflect on your work and yourself.

Discrimination & Hate Speech

fotocommunity is a global community built on friendship, mutual respect and equality. Posts (images, discussions, captions, comments) that discriminate against people, groups, minorities or ethnicities based on religion, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, profession, etc. are not permitted and will be removed.

As the operators of fotocommunity we strictly rely on our house rules and individual team decisions. This is not censorship — by definition that only applies to state institutions. We delete posts when needed to uphold good interactions and our values.

You can do your part

If you notice discriminatory content, hate speech or fake news within fotocommunity, or content that otherwise violates our guidelines and terms, you can report comments and forum posts. You can report images at the bottom of every image page. Our crew will review and respond. Thank you!

Downloading images from fotocommunity

To make unauthorized use of photos more difficult and better protect members’ images, saving photos via right‑click is not possible on fotocommunity. Every image is protected by copyright and may not be reused without the photographer’s consent.

If you would like to save and use a photo, we recommend signing up for fotocommunity free of charge. You can then contact the photographer via internal message to request permission.

Please note that it cannot be fully prevented that someone takes an image from the internet — this applies to any website. There are services that search the web for unauthorized copies of your images. For more information, please contact such providers directly. For hobby photography and images that are not highly paid, such measures are usually unnecessary.

Copyright: Photos, Poems and Lyrics

All works of an artist — whether a photo, a poem or song lyrics — are specially protected. Only the author of the work determines what may happen with it. This copyright applies not only to photos but to all works — including poems and lyrics.

Texts are often used in image descriptions to support the statement and provide context. Just as images of other people may not be used without the photographer’s consent, texts also may not be simply used. The fact that texts and poems appear on various websites is not a free pass to reuse them. Ignoring this can lead to serious penalties.

Only photos, poems and texts that you created yourself may be uploaded to fotocommunity. For digital art and compositing, only image parts that are explicitly free to use and without third‑party rights may be used.

Publishing someone else’s work under your own name is a copyright infringement and punishable by law.

Which photos may be uploaded to fotocommunity?

You may only upload photos that you have taken yourself. Photos by third parties may not be uploaded. Uploading pornographic, violence‑glorifying or politically extremist material is not permitted. Applicable law applies.

By uploading a photo you present it for public discussion.

Choose carefully which photo you upload. You don’t need to publish only your best works. Uploading an imperfect photo and asking in the description or first comment how it could be improved is fully in the spirit of fotocommunity. In all cases, be prepared for public discussion and allow objective negative criticism.

The “Nude” category is subject to youth protection. Images showing explicit sexual acts or focused depictions of genitals are not permitted. If you are unsure in individual cases, please contact our support team beforehand.

Which advertising activities are possible within fotocommunity?

fotocommunity is a platform for all photographers — from hobbyists to professionals. Our focus is deliberately on the private and personal practice and development of photography, not the business of photography. Therefore, commercial offerings may only be advertised to a limited extent and in the designated places.

If you have a free account as a Free Guest, please understand that we do not allow you to advertise commercial offerings.

With a paid membership you have the following options:

Permitted

Advertising workshops/rental studios under your own photo as an internal link to another entry within fotocommunity (Marketplace, user calendar).
For workshops, you can create an entry in the user calendar with a short text. The workshop date must be marked as “Workshop” in the user calendar. The text must include the price.
An entry in the “Marketplace” forum with the same parameters and contact details for inquiries. The subject line must clearly state the advertising focus: “Rental studio: Frankfurt…” or “Workshop: Munich…”.
The advertising thread will be closed by admins and serves as an announcement rather than a discussion space.

Not permitted

Advertising as a Free Guest.
Advertising in any forums other than the Marketplace forum or, for model/photographer/makeup artist/stylist searches, the Model forum.
Uploading photos that contain text advertising (e.g. as graphics). A discreet link as author attribution (exception: websites with paid member areas, shop sites) is not considered advertising.
Adding dates for paid workshops to user meetup events in the user calendar. Such entries must be marked as workshops instead.
Image descriptions, comments under photos or profile information with external links/URLs to commercial sites that do not fit the framework above (workshops, studios, etc.), or sites accessible only to paying users (“pay sites”), sites with pornographic content, or pure shop sites.
Advertising unrelated to the hobby of photography.

We ask all members to adhere to these conditions in the interest of everyone. We also reserve individual decisions within our house rules.

Guidelines for AI images on fotocommunity

In recent years, photos have lost credibility. They can be manipulated too easily — so “I see it in a photo, therefore it happened” no longer holds. AI now allows many ways to create images that are realistic and often indistinguishable from real photos, yet show invented scenes. Authenticity no longer matters; photorealistic motifs and situations can be freely invented.

This brings great artistic freedom as well as great responsibility, reflected in our upload guidelines for AI‑generated motifs.

Guidelines for AI‑generated images on fotocommunity

AI‑generated images created by prompts (text input) referring to real people, places, copyrighted works, brands or property, or that depend on them, are not permitted. Publication requires consent of the depicted person or appropriate permission, which may be requested.
Note: Motifs that are not covered by panorama freedom in the real world or require special photo/publication permissions may not be freely used in AI images either (illuminated Eiffel Tower, Hundertwasser House, time‑limited artworks, Atomium in Brussels, motifs on private property, etc.).
Even if copyrights on referenced works have expired, ensure that no third‑party rights are infringed. This includes transfers of publication or usage rights or rights to cultural heritage, such as museum or owner rights. If you’re unsure whether your AI image could infringe third‑party rights, don’t publish it.
If you want to use, for example, the motif of the “Mona Lisa” for an AI image, you must clarify the legal parameters of how far such use and publication are permitted.
AI‑generated images that imitate protected appearances or brands, or otherwise infringe third‑party rights, including imitation or replication of their content, are not permitted.
AI images that discriminate against people, groups, minorities or ethnicities based on religion, gender (sexism), nationality, sexual orientation, profession, etc. are not allowed and will be removed.
The fotocommunity terms and the nude image guidelines also apply to AI images.

Publishing AI images on fotocommunity — what we ask of you

To allow all viewers to clearly and transparently assess whether an image was photographed or created by AI, you should:

publish the AI image in the appropriate AI section. This also applies to AI nude images.
label the image as AI‑generated in the title and/or description.
provide information about how the image was created in the description and in the tags.
avoid titles or descriptions that suggest a real situation.

Which images belong in the “Nude” category?

The term “Nude” was chosen for brevity and is not restricted to depictions of naked persons only. The “Nude” category is accessible exclusively to premium users (paid accounts) and users aged 16+. Free users can still upload images to the “Nude” category for discussion.

The following motifs belong in the “Nude” category:

Classic full nude (simple background, full nude, model completely naked)
Detail views (body details, abstracting/anonymizing, emphasis on shapes and structures, close‑ups)
Semi‑nude: model partially dressed or partially covered by accessories (scarf, cloths, leaves, etc.)
Shots where eroticism is the focus — the model may be (partly) dressed (wet look, mesh shirt, etc.)
Lingerie photos where eroticism is the focus (keyword: catalogue photo vs. erotic lingerie)
Fetish photography (depictions of all kinds of fetish with erotic reference or splatter)
Images where the erotic reference is conveyed through posing, composition and message belong in “Nude”.
Motifs from special events such as Pride (CSD) or scenes outside public view like nude beaches belong in “Nude” if they meet the above criteria.
If you add tags like erotic, sexy, nude, etc. on upload, then it’s clear — these photos belong in the “Nude” category.

Images from these motif areas cannot be uploaded to “People” or any other categories.

Pornography is not permitted on fotocommunity!

Newcomers may be unfamiliar with this clear distinction, and others may be unsure where the line is — whether an image belongs in “Nude” or can be posted in other categories. Since boundaries differ across platforms, here’s a rough guide:

Motifs you could encounter in everyday public life should be posted in categories outside of “Nude”.

Uploading nude photos is possible with a free account. If you want to be truly active as a nude model or photographer on fotocommunity and also comment on nude photos by others, a paid membership is required.

What happens in case of misclassification

Images that must be posted in “Nude” according to the above criteria — but were not — will be moved by the fotocommunity team. Borderline cases are decided individually by the team.

Guidelines for nude photos on fotocommunity

No freedom without responsibility

fotocommunity is a place of freedom — also creatively. But: no freedom without responsibility. Our responsibility begins where youth protection and human dignity must be maintained. Rules have always existed on fotocommunity to help us meet this responsibility.

Good youth protection and preservation of human dignity with the greatest possible freedom of expression — that is our goal. The following rules help achieve it. We — the fotocommunity crew — and ideally you as a member of our community will apply them.

As the world becomes more diverse, identical depictions elicit very different reactions. What one person likes leaves another indifferent and may offend a third. That’s like offline life. It’s almost impossible to always bridge different viewpoints. What is possible is a certain calm and tolerance towards things that don’t match our own life philosophy. Live and let live.

The rules below will be enforced based on our assessment. Your best contribution is to always check whether your uploaded images meet these goals and rules.

If in doubt, the assumption that one of the following guidelines is violated is sufficient for us to intervene. We reserve the right to make individual decisions. Artistic aspects may not be considered.

Please remember: we are not an erotic website but a community for photo enthusiasts. For hobbyists. For professionals. For artists. For models. For you.

The guidelines in detail

Genitals

Depictions of erections are not permitted.
Depictions of the open female genital are not permitted.
Explicit depictions of the anus are not permitted.
Focused depictions of genitals as the dominant motif are not permitted.

Semen & substitutes

Depictions of semen or substitute fluids are not permitted.

Dildos & substitutes

Dildos and substitute objects are not permitted as image elements when shown inserted, interacting with mouth or tongue, or touching the body in the genital area. They are also not permitted if the depiction suggests they are inserted.

Bondage

Bondage is permitted if it is soft/decorative. Images of extreme bondage clearly aiming at painful or harmful restraint are not permitted.

SM

Depictions of SM practices are permitted if the staging — a conscious engagement with the topic — is evident. Depictions that truly humiliate or torture the model, or mere documentation, are not permitted.
Practices that cause lasting damage are not tolerated — including cutting, branding, extreme piercing scenes or the use of needles in a sexual context.
Images of practices that can lead to death are not tolerated — including breath control (choking, reduction by plastic or completely closed masks), strangulation, execution scenarios.
In general for SM images: if the content follows the basic rules of safe, sane and consensual, deletion will be rare.

Sexual acts

Explicit sexual acts (penetration) are not permitted.
Simulated acts and hetero/homosexual caressing scenes are permitted as long as they do not involve the genital area.
Manipulations of genitals using objects are not permitted.

Advertising

Misusing fotocommunity as a direct or indirect advertising platform for professional erotic sites or pay sites with SM/fetish content is not permitted.
Web addresses in the image or explanation are not permitted and will be removed.

Potentially harmful content and activities

Scat play is not permitted.
Splatter scenarios are not desired.

Model age

Minors are prohibited from advertising modelling and using “model” in their username.
Photos depicting minors naked or with erotic/sexual reference will be removed.
It suffices for the team to assume the depicted person is under 18.

Violence

Please refer to our terms and applicable law. Important: artistic engagement with the topic of violence is possible. We will not allow depictions of real violence.