Rules

These Rules are effective on the Okno v Miry platform and apply to all publications: works, chapters, audiobooks, comics, blog posts, comments, reviews, covers, illustrations, and user messages. The Rules are applied in accordance with the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

1. General Provisions

By using the site, you agree to comply with these Rules, the User Agreement, and applicable legislation. Lack of knowledge of the Rules does not exempt one from liability.

The Rules are effective regardless of the user's country of residence. The responsibility for compliance with applicable laws—copyright, privacy rights, and regulations on the protection of minors—lies with the user.

By publishing material, you confirm that you own the rights to it or have the permission of the copyright holder. Requirements are based on the Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528), the Copyright (Prevention of Copyright Piracy) Ordinance (Cap. 544), the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486), and the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (Cap. 362).

The Administration has the right to remove or hide any publication that violates these Rules or the laws of Hong Kong, and to restrict the violator's access to the site.

2. Rules for Writers

Any work that contains information not intended for users under the age of 18 must be assigned an "18+" status in the work's settings. Such information also includes the mention of LGBT themes and voluntary gender reassignment if they are not the basis of the plot and are not presented in the work in a positive light (approval, calls to action, etc.). The fact of swapping into the body of the opposite sex, the fact of concealing one's real sex due to plot reasons, and the like do not fall under this rule.

Publication of a translation of a work without the official permission of the original author and approval from the Administration is prohibited. A translation is a derivative work and is protected by the Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528), including the moral rights of the original author.

If an author posts only a partial text on the site or explicitly states that the text will not be posted in full, they must assign the text the status of an "introductory fragment."

The cover of a work must comply with the requirements described in this article and must not infringe upon the rights of third parties: it is forbidden to use someone else's images without permission, or images of people without their consent (Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, Cap. 486).

Divide the text of each work into chapters or parts using the "Add part" button. The recommended maximum size for one part is no more than 100,000 characters with spaces. This significantly facilitates reading the work and simplifies the editing process.

Publication of books in the slash and femslash genres is prohibited, as well as books in which LGBT themes, other non-traditional sexual preferences, child-free themes, or gender reassignment are presented with a neutral or positive attitude and/or are the basis of the plot. This is an editorial requirement for the content of the platform's materials; it concerns only the subject matter of the publications and does not limit users' access to the site or their rights based on sex, race, disability, family status, or sexual orientation, which are protected by Hong Kong’s anti-discrimination ordinances (Cap. 480, Cap. 487, Cap. 527, Cap. 602).

Publication of audiobooks created using voice engines (TTS) or neural networks is prohibited. An exception may be made for paid, high-quality automatic voice-over services and only after coordination with the Administration.

Please accurately indicate the form of the works based on their final volume:

- Short story — a short form of a work. Consists of one part with a volume of up to 2 author's sheets.

- Novella — a medium form of a work. Consists of several parts. The plot is usually focused on the image of the main character; there are no side lines or they are insignificant. A novella is characterized by a small number of characters, as well as a narrow span of time and space. Approximate volume: from 2 to 7 author's sheets.

- Novel — a long form of a work. Consists of several parts. A novel is characterized by a large number of characters with a clear division into main and secondary ones; it often has one or more significant side plot lines. Usually, a novel requires wide spans of time (weeks, months, years, sometimes centuries), and the place of action is limited to the frames of the author's world. Volume from 7 author's sheets and more.

Advertising campaigns for books published on the platform must comply with the requirements described in this article, as well as the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (Cap. 362): advertising must be recognizable and not mislead the reader.

Texts created entirely or partially with the help of neural networks must be marked by checking the appropriate box in the work's settings. If a book does not have the corresponding marking, but the Administration has reason to believe that the book was written with the help of a neural network, the Administration may forcibly set the marking or apply punitive measures against the book, up to hiding the book from public access. Yandex detector and other means of identifying text created by neural networks may be used for verification.

Any advertising of third-party books and authors, one's own or third-party groups, channels, and accounts on third-party sites and services in the text of the book is prohibited—both on a temporary and permanent basis. For recommendations of books and authors, there is a customizable "From the author" block in the cycle settings. The exception is links to one's own works and cycles on the platform at the beginning of the book or at the end of the last published chapter.

To post links to your accounts on third-party services, you can use "Author's notes" in the book settings, a pinned comment, and the "About me" section of your profile.

It is forbidden to use a genre or a popular tag in book titles. Please do not format book titles in the following way:

- Genre. Book title - Book title [Genre] Volume 2 - Book title. Genre. - #Genre. Book title

There are corresponding sections in the book settings to indicate the genre and tags.

The number of releases is limited:

- for novellas and novels (text and audio formats) — no more than 5 releases in a 30-day period, of which no more than 2 — independently (without co-authorship); - for works of short form (short stories, collections) in text and audio format, as well as for introductory fragments — no more than 1 release per day.

Limits for text and audio versions are calculated separately from each other.

3. Rules for Bloggers

The rules for publishing a blog post are described in this article and in the general rules below. Blog posts are subject to the same requirements regarding copyright, advertising labeling, and prohibited content as works.

4. Rules for Reviewers and Critics

The rules for reviews and feedback are described in this article. A review must contain a reasoned opinion about the work and must not contain insults, threats, or knowingly false statements about a person: the dissemination of defamatory information may lead to liability under the Defamation Ordinance (Cap. 21).

5. General Rules

Be polite. Remember that under someone else's nickname is the same person as you. Do not provoke, incite, or fuel conflicts. Do not resort to personal attacks. If this rule is not followed, the accounts of all participants in the conflict may be banned.

Specify the correct tags for works and posts. This significantly facilitates searching.

Vote for comments: give a plus if you agree with the author's opinion, or a minus if you are against it. Do not insult users if your opinions do not coincide.

Use the "Report" button. If you notice a violation of the rules, incorrect tags, or "adult" material without the corresponding label, report it to the Administration via the feedback form.

Report all problems, ideas, and wishes through the "Feedback" section. You do not need to create a separate post.

Write correctly. We love the Russian language and do not love those who corrupt it. It is forbidden to use CAPS (capital letters). Everyone makes mistakes and typos — try to check the text before sending.

Correctly label advertising content. When posting advertisements on the site or in the application, the advertiser (the author of the content: blog, comment, etc.) bears responsibility for the content and its presentation. In this case, the platform is not the final advertiser, does not control advertising content, and is not responsible for the labeling of advertising materials; in accordance with the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (Cap. 362), responsibility for all content and its presentation remains with the content author. The exception is the case when the platform itself acts as the direct advertiser.

6. Please do not

Publish the same long-form work (novella, novel) multiple times as a new one. Republication of such works, including in other formats (collections, omnibuses, trilogies, etc.), is not welcomed, as it creates confusion for readers and (in the case of publication in parts) leads to abuse of the site's functionality. This rule also applies to:

- republication of a work after editing. For serious editing, it is enough to temporarily hide the work in a draft (so that readers do not receive an excessive number of notifications), make changes, and return it to the "Published" status; - republication of parts of a work, including transferring fragments from one already published book to another already published one. This primarily applies to works in the "Finished" status.

Exceptions to this item are possible:

- if the work was in a draft for a sufficiently long period, and now you want to publish it again — contact the Administration and describe the situation; - works of short form (poetry collection, short stories, collection of short stories) can be republished once without coordination with the Administration; - it is permissible to transfer part of a text from a long book to a new publication by agreement with the Administration under the conditions: the work is free and has not been sold previously; the work is a single-volume edition or the last one in a series at the current moment; the work has a size of 20 author's sheets or more.

For paid books, any action related to the republication of text must be pre-approved by the Administration. We are ready to consider other cases where republication may be necessary if they are not described above.

Discuss or participate in the discussion of third-party topics in comments under a book. For readers to communicate on third-party topics, the author (or one of the active readers) can create a special topic in blogs and provide a link to it in the author's notes or as a pinned comment.

Abuse the publication of videos and images in comments to a work (in this case, if both a video and a picture are published, it is better to hide them under a spoiler).

Publish any material of a provocative and/or shocking nature (18+, gore, photos and videos of dead animals, nudity, etc.) without a spoiler and a corresponding warning. This rule applies to any publication on the site, including comments. A warning for a work serves as the "18+" label.

Publish videos and images that are not related to it in the comments to a work.

Transfer personal communication to the comments of a work. There is personal messaging functionality, blogs, and guestbooks for this.

Bypass the ignore list restriction by creating root comments or replies to comments of other users (this point also applies to any discussions on the site).

Spam. Create advertising messages (including personal ones) or comments. Call for vote rigging. Please note that a call in a newsletter to read your work or join a group is equated to spam: sending unwanted advertising messages also contradicts the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance (Cap. 593).

Copy content. Posting fully copied content from other sites is prohibited — even when using a hyperlink to the source. We stand for original materials: such posting violates the Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528).

Create additional accounts. Please do not try to bypass account blocking, ignore list restrictions, and rig ratings for works, blog posts, and comments. All this can lead to a permanent ban of your account.

Post content that is prohibited according to the platform's policy:

- prompting to download pirated content, links to pirated content, information about pirated resources — violation of the Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528) and the Copyright (Prevention of Copyright Piracy) Ordinance (Cap. 544); - content describing sexual acts involving minors, including torture, rape, and the like — a serious criminal offense under the Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 200) and the Protection of Children and Juveniles Ordinance (Cap. 213); such materials are deleted, and information about them is transmitted to the Hong Kong law enforcement agencies; - pornographic content, including visual — Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance (Cap. 390); - provocations on the topic of sexual orientation, incitement of enmity and hatred — Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 200); - content of a political, nationalistic, esoteric, or religious nature; - content touching upon acute social topics; - any information prohibited by Hong Kong legislation.

Use content for which you do not have rights or permission from the copyright holder. Content is understood as covers, illustrations, photographs, and videos. Otherwise, your account may be blocked and the content deleted (Copyright Ordinance, Cap. 528).

Post someone else's personal information without the owner's permission. Someone else's personal information is understood as photographs, full names, addresses, phone numbers, links to social media pages, screenshots of private correspondence, and so on. This requirement is based on the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) and data protection rules.

Post links (as well as QR codes, etc.) to third-party literary sites and platforms (except for personal author sites) in the text of blog posts, illustrations, text, and annotations of works, comments. You may place such links in the author's notes (in the case of a work) or on your personal page in the "About me" section.

Use Caps-Lock (except for abbreviations), emojis, links, and special characters in the titles of works, blog posts, illustrations, or in a personal pseudonym.

Discuss the site's rules and the actions of the Administration aimed at their compliance. Such issues are resolved through personal correspondence with the Administration.

Use minuses to troll another user. "Trolling" is considered to be repeatedly clicking minuses to comments, posts, or reviews of one user within several different publications, regardless of their content. For example, if you clicked minus to a user's comment under one discussion and then track all their other comments and posts and put a minus to them too.

Indicate an incorrect reason for deleting a comment by the publication's author, insult users in the comment to the deletion, resort to personal attacks, or provoke conflicts. Remember that moderators see both the reason for deleting the comment and the content of the deleted comment itself. In case of repeated indication of an incorrect deletion reason, the ability to add comments to the deletion may be disabled.

Publish links for donations, as well as details and links for fundraising for various needs in comments, text of works, blogs, and others without coordination with the Administration.

7. Liability for Violation

The Administration considers complaints and has the right to apply a warning, remove a publication, restrict access to individual functions, or block an account.

Repeated violations, attempts to bypass blocking, rating rigging, and publication of content prohibited by Hong Kong law may lead to a permanent account ban and the transfer of information to Hong Kong law enforcement agencies.

The list of violations remains open because it is always possible to come up with something not described above. In such cases, moderators are guided by common sense and their own sense of the beautiful. You should not discuss their decisions and create agitation publications on this topic — if an account is blocked, it means there was a fairly good reason for it.

These Rules are governed by the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, including the Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528), the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486), the Defamation Ordinance (Cap. 21), the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance (Cap. 390), and the Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 200). The Rules may change; the current version is always posted in the "Legal Framework" section.

8. Language of Publications

- All materials on the platform, except for books, are published immediately in both Russian and English: news, rules, legal documents, announcements, and other messages about the site's operation.

- News is translated into English automatically upon publication: the author specifies the Russian text, the English version is created by the system.

- Rules, legal documents, and official messages about the site's operation are added by the Administration in both language versions immediately; when the Russian text is updated, the English version is updated on the same day.

- Everything related to books — title, description, genres, text of the work, and audio — is added only manually. Automatic translation of books is not performed: the author decides for themselves whether the work needs an English version and uploads it separately.

- If a book does not have an English version, the reader sees the Russian original. Absence of a translation is not a violation.