Terms

IThe short version

You may read the public parts of this site freely. An account is free. Supporting a maker is a monthly subscription or a one-time tip, billed by Stripe. Subscriptions renew until you cancel, you can cancel at any time and keep access until the period ends, and within fourteen days of your first charge you may ask for a full refund. We remove content or close an account only under a numbered rule on this page, with notice before and an appeal after. Nothing else is a reason for action.

IIWho we are

LotusMake, referred to as we, is the platform that runs this site. LotusMake runs on Freedom Forge, open software that anyone may host; these terms cover this site only. Each creator here is an independent person or team. We host what creators publish. We do not review posts before they go live, and we are not the speaker of creator content. A creator's views are their own.

The Aeon Forge is a creator on this platform. Its posts speak for it, not for us. Because the people who run the platform also run it, these terms call it the founder's page and apply extra rules to cases that involve it.

IIIReading and accounts

Reading public posts needs no account. An account is free and is for one person who is 13 or older; at sign-up you say whether you are 18 or older or 13 to 17, and the site shows content rated for that age. Signed out, the site shows content rated G and PG. Anything rated beyond PG needs an account. How ratings work says what each rating means and who sees what. You can change what you see from your Forge page. We keep the age band you give and no birthdate. A creator must be 18 or older and able to enter a contract. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 13. How to stay safe here says what to keep to yourself and what to do when someone asks for more. You are responsible for what is done with it, so keep your sign-in details private and tell us if you think someone else has used them. Posts marked for supporters are for the person who pays for them; do not republish them or share your private feed link, which identifies your account. You may close your account at any time from your Forge page.

IVSupporting a maker

LotusMake is the seller of record for every payment on this site. The creator you support is the beneficiary, and Stripe processes the payment. By starting a checkout you agree to these terms and to Stripe's terms for the payment.

Tiers. A tier is a monthly subscription to a creator's supporter posts, billed in advance in the currency shown, at the price shown.

• Before the pay button, checkout shows the renewing price, the period, the creator's name, the platform fee as a sentence, and the words "renews until you cancel".
• The subscription renews automatically at the end of each period until you cancel it.
• You can cancel at any time from your Forge page in one click. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the period already paid, and you keep access until then. There are no prorated refunds for the rest of a period.
• Changing tiers takes effect at once; Stripe prorates the difference and keeps your billing date.
• Within fourteen days of your first charge to a given creator you may ask for a full refund of that charge. Write to support@lotusmake.com from the address on your account. A refund reverses the creator's share of that payment along with ours.
• If a payment fails, Stripe retries it. Access continues for fourteen days after the period end, then the posts lock until the payment succeeds or the subscription ends.
• A price change never affects an existing subscription.
• Disputes and chargebacks are handled by us, not by the creator. A lost dispute reverses the creator's share of that payment; the dispute fee is our cost. While a dispute is open, the monthly payment it concerns is paused; if the dispute is lost, that tier or hardware month ends.
• If a creator is suspended, billing for your support pauses: you are not charged while the suspension lasts, and it resumes when the suspension ends. If a creator leaves the platform or is terminated, your subscription ends at the end of the period already paid, with no further charge. You receive one email saying what changed for your billing and access. Support that a termination ended is not restarted if the termination is later reversed; you may support again by renewing in the Billing Portal before the period ends, or from the creator's page after it. If your own account is closed, your subscriptions also end at the end of the period already paid, with no further charge.
• A tier is support for published and future posts. It is not a purchase of any specific post and buys no influence over what is published.

Tips. A tip is a gift to the creator. It buys no post, no access and no compute. Tips are not refundable except for duplicate or unauthorized charges. A tip may carry a short message; the message is private to the creator, is never shown in public, can be hidden by the creator, and is subject to rules A5 and A6 below. An anonymous tip carries no message.

Hardware. The platform prices a short list of items a supporter can put under a creator's work: hours of B300 compute, a DGX Spark, an RTX PRO 6000, and an amount you choose. The prices are the platform's and are shown before the pay button. The money goes to the creator as support, not to a vendor: the creator decides what to buy with it and is not obliged to buy that item. Hardware bought once is a gift, like a tip. It buys no post, no access and no compute, and it is not refundable except for duplicate or unauthorized charges. Hardware every month is a subscription under the tier rules above: it renews until you cancel, it makes you a supporter of every post the creator gates while it runs, and it ends at the end of the period already paid when you cancel. The platform fee on hardware is the same as on tiers and tips.

One month, paid once. You may pay for one month of a tier once instead of subscribing to it. It is billed once, it opens that tier's posts until the same day of the next month, and then it ends on its own with no further charge. Within fourteen days it is refundable as a first charge is, and never otherwise.

Projects. A project is a post with funding goals the creator sets. A contribution is a one-time gift toward the next unmet goal. It buys no post, no access and no compute, it is not an investment, and it is not a purchase of anything the project describes. What the creator promises to deliver at each goal is the creator's promise, not ours: we are not a party to it and we do not hold funds against it. Contributions reach the creator with each charge, as tips do, and are not refundable except for duplicate or unauthorized charges. The platform's share of a contribution is stated on the project page before any click. You may choose to show your name on the project page; otherwise you appear only in the count. A project the creator closes keeps its page, its goals and its contributors.

Wallets. A creator may publish wallet addresses on a project page. Anything you send to such an address goes directly from you to the creator on that chain. LotusMake never holds, forwards, converts or sees those funds, takes no share of them, cannot refund them, and does not verify the totals. The amount the page shows is reported by the creator, and the address, or the view key the creator publishes, is what lets you check it. Sending to a wallet is at your own risk and under the rules of that chain.

What the creator learns about you. At checkout you may choose to share your name and email with the creator so they can reach you if they leave the platform. The default is off. If you do not choose it, the creator sees a stable pseudonymous id, your tier, the start date and the amount, and nothing else.

We do not charge tax on top of the price shown.

VBeing a creator

Becoming a creator is an application. To apply you need a confirmed email address (if your sign-in did not confirm it, we email you a link and one click does), no pending application, no decline within the last 30 days, and no decline that said you may not apply again. Each account may submit three applications a day. Those are gates, not judgments.

We judge five things: a real person or team, a buildable thing described, links that resolve, no rule A or B violation on the linked work, and a handle that is not reserved or impersonating. A decline cites one of those five. A declined applicant may appeal once, seven days after the decision. The appeal is decided by a different admin or, if none is active, by the outside reviewer named on the transparency page, and the outcome is logged. Declined applications are erased 90 days after the decision unless appealed.

The platform keeps one share of every payment a supporter makes to a creator: tips and GPU hours, tiers, offers, hardware paid once or every month, and project contributions. The share is the same for every creator, and Stripe's processing fee is passed through to the creator's share at Stripe's published rate, with no markup. There is no paid plan that lowers the share, and nothing is kept from crypto sent to a wallet address. The share is published on the fees page, shown on the application form before you apply, and on the Fees and payouts page in the Studio after. A change to it is announced 30 days ahead, applies from the date in the notice we send you, and never applies to a payment already made. A creator approved before this paragraph took effect keeps the share stated at their approval until the date in that notice. The current share is stated as a sentence at every checkout. Payouts are made by Stripe under Stripe's Connected Account Agreement, which you accept when you connect your account. We never hold a payout without telling you the rule. When Stripe holds funds or closes a payment account, we pass you everything Stripe tells us the same day; that decision is Stripe's, and we help with Stripe's appeal path.

What you publish. You own what you publish. You give us the right to store it, display it to the readers you have chosen, send it in feeds and in the emails supporters have asked for, and include it in your export. That right ends when you remove the content or close your account, except for backups, which expire on their own schedule, and moderation records, which are kept as described below. You are responsible for having the rights to what you publish. You may export everything in one click, free, at any time and for 90 days after your account closes. Images are re-encoded to WebP on upload and the original bytes are not kept. Closing your account ends your supporters' subscriptions at the end of their paid periods. A page's owner is responsible for every post on it, including posts written by the makers the owner invited; a maker who writes on another page is responsible for what they write. A page may present a character or a group you create, including one made with AI, when the page says so plainly.

Our payment processor's rules also apply to every payment made through this site; see List B.

Invites. A creator may give out a limited number of invite codes. An application made with a valid code is approved when it is submitted, under the same criteria, the same handle rules and these same terms. An invited creator is not vouched for by the platform, and the inviter answers for nothing the invitee does. We revoke a creator's unused codes when a creator they invited is terminated under List A. We also pause that creator's new invites until an admin lifts the pause. The pause stays if the termination is later reversed, it is not an enforcement action, and it has no appeal; the creator is told by email. An admin who pauses a creator's invites records a reason, which the creator is told. While a creator is under feature limits (step 3 of the ladder), new invites are paused and codes they already gave out cannot be redeemed until the limit ends.

VIThe rules

The lists below are the whole of what we enforce. List A is what the platform removes or closes an account for. List B is what cannot be paid for through the platform because the payment processor forbids it. Each item names its source. Nothing else is a reason for action.

We host what the law allows. We can only move money for what our payment processor allows. Where the two differ, the post stays and the paid tier does not.

List A. Platform rules (content and conduct)

A1. Sexual content involving minors, real or depicted, including drawn and AI-generated images, and any attempt to contact a minor for a sexual purpose. Source: 18 U.S.C. 2252A, 1466A, 2422(b); reporting duty 18 U.S.C. 2258A. Action: removal, termination, CyberTipline report, one-year preservation. No notice before action.

A2. Sex trafficking and advertising prostitution. Source: 18 U.S.C. 1591, 2421A; 47 U.S.C. 230(e)(5) removes the platform's shield. Action: removal, termination, referral.

A3. Credible threats of violence against a person or group, and content that organizes or directs violence. Source: 18 U.S.C. 875(c); Stripe prohibits businesses that "engage in, encourage, promote, or celebrate unlawful violence or physical harm to persons or property" (processor rule also applies to payments). Harm: physical. Action: suspension or termination.

A4. Intimate images of a person published without that person's consent, including AI-generated likenesses. Source: TAKE IT DOWN Act notice-and-removal duty, 48 hours from a valid request; state laws. Harm: direct personal. Action: removal within 48 hours of a valid request, then notice to the uploader.

A5. Doxxing: publishing a private person's home address, phone number, government ID, financial account, or private images, or the same for a public person's family, with no public-interest purpose. Source: concrete harm (stalking, swatting); several state statutes. Action: removal, then one step at a time up the ladder.

A6. Targeted harassment: repeated unwanted contact with one person through tips, messages or posts after they have asked for it to stop, or coordinating others to do so. Source: concrete harm; 47 U.S.C. 223 for threatening or harassing communications. Action: warning, then one step at a time up the ladder.

A7. Copyright and trademark infringement after a valid notice. Source: 17 U.S.C. 512(c); counter-notice under 512(g); repeat infringer policy under 512(i): three upheld notices in 12 months closes the account. Stripe also prohibits "Sales or distribution of music, movies, software, or any other licensed materials without appropriate authorization" and "Counterfeit goods". Action: removal on valid notice, restore on counter-notice after 10 to 14 business days unless the claimant sues.

A8. Malware, credential theft and attack tooling aimed at people who did not consent: distributing code whose purpose is to compromise others' devices or accounts, phishing kits, stolen credentials, stolen data dumps. Source: 18 U.S.C. 1030 (CFAA); concrete harm. Clarification: security research, exploit write-ups for disclosed vulnerabilities, red-team tooling with documented authorized use, and abliterated or uncensored model releases are allowed. Action: removal, then one step at a time up the ladder.

A9. Fraud and deception aimed at people: impersonating a real person or organization to mislead, fake credentials, fake testimonials, pyramid and recruitment-commission schemes, promises of guaranteed returns. Source: FTC Act Section 5; Stripe prohibits pyramid schemes, multilevel marketing with recruitment commissions, "get rich quick" schemes and fake testimonials. Action: removal, then one step at a time up the ladder.

A10. Attacks on the platform or its users: intrusion attempts, credential stuffing, scraping that degrades service, circumventing access controls or payment, sharing private feed links or API keys to bypass paywalls. Source: 18 U.S.C. 1030; contract. Action: feature limits, then suspension, then termination.

A11. Illegal sale or facilitation: listings for controlled substances, illegal weapons, explosives instructions intended for harm, stolen goods, human remains, protected wildlife. Source: federal and state criminal law; Stripe prohibits illegal drugs, "drug paraphernalia", "illegal weapons", "toxic or radioactive materials". Action: removal, then one step at a time up the ladder.

A12. Spam and manipulation: bulk unsolicited posts, link farms, fake supporter accounts, bought engagement. Source: concrete harm to the service; Stripe prohibits "Sales of online traffic or engagement". Action: removal, then one step at a time up the ladder.

A13. Court orders and lawful process: content or accounts a court order requires us to remove, and sanctions compliance. Source: the order; OFAC rules as applied by Stripe. Action: as ordered; notice follows unless the order forbids it.

A14. A rating set below what the content shows, where the difference exposes minors, or adults who have not turned on 18+ content, to content rated for an older audience. Source: concrete harm; state laws on distribution to minors. Action: the rating is corrected the same day and the maker told why and how to rate, which removes nothing and is not a strike; explicit adult content rated below 18+ is a strike, and the fifth strike in twelve months is a suspension.

How each rating is defined, and how a rating is corrected, is on How ratings work.

What is not a rule

None of the following is a reason for action: viewpoint, political position, religion or its absence, lawful adult themes in text, profanity, criticism of the platform or its owner, criticism of other creators, unpopular or offensive opinions, lawful security research, uncensored model weights, the number of reports received, and complaints from any third party that do not cite a rule above.

List B. Payment rules (processor)

Our payment processor, Stripe, forbids payments for the following. Posts about these subjects can stay up where the law allows. They cannot be behind a paid tier, and tips cannot be solicited for them. If Stripe closes a creator's payment account, we pass on the reason the same day; we did not make that decision.

B1. (processor) Pornography and other mature audience content, including AI-generated content that meets the adult criteria. Source: Stripe prohibited list.

B2. (processor) Adult services, escorts, fetish services. Source: Stripe prohibited list.

B3. (processor) Gambling, lotteries, games of chance, sports forecasting with prizes. Source: Stripe prohibited list.

B4. (processor) Cannabis products, CBD above legal THC limits, growing equipment marketed for marijuana. Source: Stripe prohibited list.

B5. (processor) Cryptocurrency mining or staking services, ICOs, secondary NFT sales. Source: Stripe prohibited list (nonfiat currency). Note: a crypto payment method, if we add one, is a way to pay, not a sale of these.

B6. (processor) Firearms, suppressors, ammunition, tobacco and e-cigarettes, prescription devices. Source: Stripe restricted list (requires separate Stripe approval the platform does not hold).

B7. (processor) Investment, lending, money transmission, debt services, buy-now-pay-later, in-game currency, gift cards. Source: Stripe prohibited and restricted lists.

B8. (processor) Counterfeit or unauthorized brand-name goods; unlicensed distribution of music, movies or software. Source: Stripe prohibited list (also rule A7).

B9. (processor) Businesses that "engage in, encourage, promote, or celebrate unlawful violence or physical harm to persons or property", or unlawful violence toward a group based on race, religion, disability, gender or similar characteristics. Source: Stripe prohibited list (also rule A3).

B10. (processor) Pyramid schemes, multilevel marketing with recruitment commissions, get-rich-quick schemes, fake testimonials, sale of online traffic or engagement. Source: Stripe prohibited list (also rules A9, A12).

B11. (processor) Anything the platform itself is not approved for: the platform is a "content creation platform" under Stripe's restricted list and is "subject to monitoring by Stripe". The platform must hold that approval before onboarding and must say so on the fees page.

Payment processor rules

Stripe's terms and prohibited and restricted business rules apply to every payment on the platform alongside these terms. List B above is our reading of them. Stripe's text controls.

How the lists change

An action must cite exactly one rule id from this page. A rule id that does not exist on this page on the date of the action cannot be cited. Changes to this page are dated and announced 30 days ahead, except additions the law requires, which take effect on publication and are marked "required by law". The change log is on the transparency page.

VIIDue process

The law lets a platform remove anything it finds objectionable. We choose not to use that power beyond the rules on this page. That choice is a promise about how we act, not a license for anything that appears here. We may remove content or close an account only under a numbered rule above, under a valid legal notice, or when the processor requires it.

Reports. A report is a request for review. The number of reports is never a reason for action and is never evidence. Reports are filed at /report by signed-in users, who must pick a rule, except copyright notices, intimate-image requests (/takedown) and reports under rule A1 (/report/a1), which may be anonymous. Each account may file five reports a day. Duplicate reports on one target within 30 days become one case. Nothing happens automatically when a report arrives.

Triage. An admin reads the case within two business days (48 hours by the clock for rule A4; the same day for rule A1 and court orders) and either assigns one rule id or closes the case as "no rule". Closures are counted on the transparency page. An admin who filed the report, is the reported party, or operates a creator involved in the case is recused, and the recusal is logged. A recused admin's case, including any case where the founder's page could benefit from the outcome, goes to another admin. The outside reviewer named on the transparency page has read-only access and decides appeals, not cases.

Notice. Before any action, the creator receives an email and a Studio banner with: the rule id and its text; the specific post, asset, tip message or conduct; the evidence snapshot; the proposed step on the ladder; the response window; the appeal path; and the admin's handle. The window is seven days for warnings, removals and feature limits, and three days for a suspension under rules A3, A5, A6, A8 or A9 when the admin has written down why the harm is ongoing. Fixing the content within the window closes the case with no action.

The ladder. Actions go one step at a time: (1) a warning, logged, with no change to the account; two warnings in twelve months lift the next case one step. (2) Removal of the post or asset; the creator may edit and request one re-review. (3) Feature limits for 30 days: tip messages off, new posts held for review, public listing paused, new API keys disabled, and new invites paused (unused codes cannot be redeemed while the limit runs); existing supporters keep access and payouts continue. (4) Suspension for 7, 30 or 90 days: the creator page and posts are hidden, new payments pause, earned funds are still paid out, supporters are told that billing is paused, and API keys are reduced to read and export scopes. (5) Termination: the account closes, posts leave public view, subscriptions end at period end with no further charge, earned funds are paid out on Stripe's schedule unless Stripe holds them, the export stays available for 90 days, and a hash of the account identifier is kept to enforce the ban. Rules A1 and A2 start at step 5. Rule A7 reaches step 5 at the third upheld notice in twelve months. Threats under rule A3 start at step 4 or 5. Rule A13 acts as the order says. Every other rule in List A starts at the step it names and moves up one step at a time. A later case against the same account starts one step above the account's last action, if that is higher; an action reversed on appeal or restored does not count.

Supporter accounts. A supporter account (one with no creator page behind it) climbs the same ladder, one step at a time. Feature limits turn off the account's tip messages (and, under rule A10, revoke its private feed link). A suspension stops its new tips, its new subscriptions and its private feed, while the account can still sign in, read its notices and appeal. An account on its own has no content, so it has no removal step; a removal acts on a tip message.

Before notice. Only these cases act before notice, and the notice follows the same day: rule A1, where we disable access, preserve the material as the law requires, file the CyberTipline report, close the account and send a short notice that the account was closed for a legal reason; a court order or sanctions requirement, which we follow and log, with notice unless the order forbids it; a valid copyright notice, described below; and a valid request under rule A4, where we remove the image within 48 hours and then notify the uploader. A Stripe action on a payment account is logged as the processor's action with Stripe's reason and forwarded to the creator the same day.

Rating corrections. A correction under rule A14 changes only a rating. It removes nothing, is not a step on the ladder and is not an action before notice in the sense above: it takes effect the same day, its notice goes with it, it may be appealed like any action, and it does not count as the account's last action for a later case. The fifth strike under rule A14 within twelve months opens a suspension case at step 4, with the notice, the response window and the appeal above.

Appeal. Every action except a copyright removal may be appealed within 30 days from the Studio or by email from the account address, once per action. A copyright removal is answered by a counter-notice, described below, not by an appeal. A different admin decides. If no second admin is active, a named outside reviewer with read-only access and a written agreement decides, and that person is listed on the transparency page. If neither has decided within 14 days of filing, the action is reversed and the creator is told, except actions taken before notice, which stay until reviewed. The reviewer may uphold, overturn or move the action down the ladder, cannot cite a new rule, and writes the outcome within 14 days. A declined application follows the same path, as described under Being a creator.

Records and the public. Every step and every appeal outcome is logged in a record that is never edited. Evidence is kept for three years after the action or the end of any appeal or dispute, whichever is later; material preserved under rule A1 for one year; copyright notices and counter-notices for three years. The transparency page is refreshed weekly from these records with a seven-day lag. Supporters of a suspended or terminated creator receive one email about their billing and access, with no reason beyond the rule id. Reporters receive one email: "reviewed, action taken", "reviewed, no rule applied" or, when the creator fixed the content within the window, "reviewed, the creator fixed the content".

VIIICopyright notices

Our designated agent for copyright notices is listed at /dmca and in the Copyright Office directory, and receives notices at dmca@lotusmake.com. A valid notice contains the six elements of 17 U.S.C. 512(c)(3); an incomplete notice is returned with the missing element named and does not trigger removal. On a valid notice we disable access the same day and send the creator the full notice and a counter-notice form. On a counter-notice we forward it to the claimant and restore the content between the tenth and fourteenth business day unless the claimant reports a filed suit. A person who knowingly files a false notice or counter-notice is liable under 17 U.S.C. 512(f). Three upheld notices in twelve months close a creator account.

IXAgents and API keys

API keys created in the Studio are for the creator's own agents. Sharing a key is at the creator's risk, and a key used to bypass a paywall is rule A10. A post under a moderation action cannot be republished by an agent; the API refuses the request and names the notice. A suspended creator's keys keep read and export scopes so that an agent can still run the export.

Every key carries limits on what it may do in a minute and in a day. You set them within the platform's ceilings when you create the key, and a key that passes its daily posts pauses until you resume it. An admin may pause every key of a creator when an agent's activity is dangerous. That is a safety measure, not an enforcement action: no rule is cited, nothing is removed, and the creator is told the reason.

XContent and licenses

What a creator publishes belongs to that creator unless stated otherwise. Code, model weights and containers linked from a post carry their own licenses, and those licenses govern that material. The platform's own pages, such as this one and the Charter, may be quoted with attribution.

XINo warranty

The site and everything on it are provided as they are. We try to keep the site up and the records accurate, but we make no promise about either, and we are not liable for loss arising from your use of the site or from any creator's content. Our liability to a supporter or creator is limited to the amount that person paid us in the twelve months before the claim. Nothing in these terms limits liability for fraud or gross negligence, or any right you have by law that cannot be excluded, including a consumer's.

XIIChanges

The date at the top of this page is the date these terms last changed. Changes to the rules follow the notice period above. A change to billing terms is announced before it applies and never changes the price of an existing subscription. Using the site after a change means you accept the new terms.

XIIIQuestions

Write to support@lotusmake.com. Copyright notices go to dmca@lotusmake.com. Court orders and law-enforcement process go to legal@lotusmake.com.