Community Guidelines

In short

• We protect Minors. Any sexual content involving a Minor leads to permanent closure of the Account and a report to the police.
• Pornography, hate, threats, harassment and scams are not allowed, and nobody may be asked to pay to apply or audition.
• Report a problem with the Report button on Talent profiles and in the forum, or by email to support@sphere.art.
• Our moderators review Reports, and we email the affected User what we decided and why.
• You can appeal a decision within 30 days, and we answer within 14 days.

1. Scope

These Community Guidelines set the rules for Content and conduct in Sphere Cinema. They are part of the Legal Documents and apply together with the Terms of Service.

The Guidelines cover everything Users publish, send or do in the Service: profiles, Projects and the Project Workspace, Casting Calls, Applications and Offers, messages, the forum, peer reviews, Films and the use of SPHERIK. They also cover conduct at auditions, shoots, Screenings and other meetings arranged through the Service where it affects the safety of other people.

Some roles have extra rules: the Casting and Hiring Terms for casting and Projects, the Creator and Organizer Terms for Sellers and the Festival Submission Terms for Festivals. Content that breaks the law always breaks these Guidelines too.

2. Protection of minors

We have zero tolerance for sexual content involving Minors. This covers any image, video, drawing, text or AI-generated material that shows a Minor in a sexual way or sexualises a Minor. It also covers grooming: building contact with a Minor in order to exploit them sexually, asking a Minor for intimate images, or arranging to meet a Minor for that purpose. When we find such Content or conduct, we remove it from view, close the Account permanently and report it to the police or other competent authorities. We keep a copy of the material only for those authorities, and only as the law requires. If you come across such material, do not copy or forward it, even to report it: tell us where you saw it (section 7).

No Minor may appear in nudity or sexual content in any Project or Film. Minors take part in casting and production only under the Casting and Hiring Terms, section 11 "Minors in casting and production". The safety rules for auditions are in section 7 "Auditions and safety" of those terms.

A Film that contains material that may harm Minors, such as graphic violence, nudity, sex scenes or drug use, must carry an 18+ label in its description. We may limit how Films labelled 18+ are shown, for example by keeping them off discovery pages. Ages in the Service are self-declared, so the label works as a warning to Viewers and Guardians.

If you believe an Account belongs to a child under 16, report it. Such Accounts are closed under the Terms of Service, section 3 "Who can use the Service".

3. Content that is not allowed

The following Content is not allowed anywhere in the Service, free or paid, public or private:

• Sexually explicit material. Pornography, any Content whose main purpose is sexual arousal, and any offer of sexual services. Nudity and sex scenes are allowed only within a Film's artistic context, with an 18+ label, and only when everyone shown is an adult who agreed to it. Profiles, photos, posts and messages may not show nudity or sexual activity.
• Hate and violence. Content that incites violence or hatred against people because of a characteristic protected by law, such as ethnicity, nationality, religion, sex or disability; support for terrorism or violent extremism; threats of violence. A Film may show violence or hatred as part of its story; this rule covers Content that promotes them.
• Harassment. Content that targets a person to intimidate, humiliate or threaten them, including sexual harassment and repeated contact after the person has asked you to stop.
• Private information. Publishing a person's private details without their consent, such as a home address, a private phone number, identity documents or financial details, and sharing intimate images of anyone without their consent.
• Self-harm. Content that encourages suicide, self-harm or eating disorders.
• Deception. False information meant to mislead other Users, and AI-generated or altered images, voices or videos of a real person presented as real. Using a real person's image or voice also needs their consent, as the Terms of Service, section 6 "Your Content and the licence you give us" requires.
• Other illegal Content. For example, Content that offers illegal goods or services, or that infringes copyright, trademarks or other rights. Rights holders use the procedure in Copyright and IP Complaints, section 2 "How to send a Notice".

Casting Calls must also meet the Casting and Hiring Terms, sections 3 "Posting a Casting Call", 4 "Casting Call posting guidelines: what you must disclose" and 5 "What is not allowed in casting". What may never be sold through the Service, including pornography, sexual services, gambling, donations and crowdfunding, is listed in the Legal Compliance Policy, section 4 "Prohibited business activities".

4. Conduct that is not allowed

Do not:

• scam or defraud anyone, for example with fake jobs, fake festivals or fake Offers;
• ask for money to apply, audition or be considered for a role or a Project, in any form; the full rule is in the Casting and Hiring Terms, section 5 "What is not allowed in casting";
• ask other Users for money, gifts, loans or payment details outside a Listing or work you have agreed with them;
• take payment for a Listing outside the checkout: Rentals, Purchases, Fan Subscriptions, Tickets and Submission Fees offered in the Service are paid only through its checkout (this rule covers Listings only, and pay for work is agreed directly between Producers and Talent);
• spam: send bulk or repeated unwanted messages, invitations or posts, or promote pyramid or multi-level schemes;
• create fake Accounts or impersonate anyone, including a company, a Festival or Sphere Cinema staff;
• evade a suspension by opening another Account or using someone else's;
• collect contact details or other Personal Data of Users for purposes they did not share them for, including looking people up by email address for anything other than building your Project team;
• scrape or automate: use bots, scrapers or other automated means to collect Content or data, or to create follows, views or reviews;
• attack the Service: try to get into other Accounts or our systems, test for weaknesses without our written permission, spread malware or phishing links, overload the Service, or get around its limits and safety features;
• endanger or harass people at auditions, shoots, Screenings or other meetings arranged through the Service.

The rules for using SPHERIK are in the SPHERIK AI Assistant Terms, section 4 "What you put into SPHERIK". Tips for spotting scams and phishing are in the Transaction Security Policy, section 5 "How to protect yourself".

5. Honest profiles, credits and reviews

Keep your profile accurate and current. Headshots must show you. List only the credits, awards and festival selections you really have, each in the role you actually had. Credits on Projects are accepted by the person credited, as the Casting and Hiring Terms, section 13 "Credits" explains.

A Verification badge confirms only what we checked, on the date we checked it. Do not claim or suggest a Verification you do not have.

Peer reviews (a rating of 1 to 5 stars with optional text) appear on the reviewed person's profile as soon as they are posted. When you write one:

• review only people you worked with on that Project, and only the work you saw;
• be fair and factual, and leave out insults, Personal Data and remarks about protected characteristics;
• never pay or accept anything for a review, swap reviews, or review yourself through another Account;
• never use a review to take revenge, and never threaten a review to put pressure on someone.

Moderators may hide a review that breaks these rules. If a review about you breaks them, report it (section 7).

6. Advertising and Promotion

If you are paid, or receive something of value, to post about a product, service, event or Film, say so clearly in the post, for example with the word "Ad" or "Sponsored". Promotion, the paid placement that Sphere Cinema sells, is always shown as advertising. No Promotion is on sale yet; the Payment Policy, section 7 "Sphere Plans and other Sphere Paid Services" covers it as a Sphere Paid Service.

Advertising in the Service follows the Law of Georgia on Advertising. It must be truthful and easy to recognise as advertising. It must not pressure Minors to buy, or to ask others to buy for them, and it must not use a person's name, image or voice without their consent. Advertise only what may be offered in the Service (section 3).

How we send marketing emails, and how to stop them, is explained in the Privacy Policy, section 11 "Marketing and service emails". Marketing messages to Users who did not ask for them count as spam (section 4).

7. How to report

You can report Content or conduct that you believe breaks these Guidelines or the law.

• Report button. When you are signed in, use the Report button on a Talent profile, a forum thread or a forum post. Choose a reason and, if you wish, add a short description. The Service confirms on screen that your Report was sent.
• Email. For anything else (Projects, Casting Calls, Applications, Offers, messages, peer reviews, Films, Festivals or conduct offline), or if you have no Account, write to support@sphere.art. Include a link to the Content or profile, what happened and when, which rule you think was broken, and screenshots of any messages. We confirm by email that we received your Report.
• Copyright and other rights. Send a Notice to copyright@sphere.art as Copyright and IP Complaints, section 2 "How to send a Notice" explains. Complaints about trademarks, or about the use of your image, voice or name, follow section 7 "Trademarks, likeness and other rights" of that document.

In direct messages you can also block a person, so that they can no longer write to you.

If someone is in immediate danger, contact the police or emergency services first. We handle Reports about a risk to someone's safety, above all a Minor's, before other Reports.

8. How we moderate

Our moderators review Reports and decide what to do. Apart from the checks that the Terms of Service, section 5 "Our role" lists, we do not check Content before it appears, and we do not monitor the Service in general. We act on private messages when a participant reports them.

The only automated moderation tools are on the forum: a word filter replaces listed words with asterisks and flags posts for a moderator, and posting limits slow down new Accounts, hold back links until an Account has been active for a while and refuse repeated posts. People make every other Moderation decision.

When we learn of illegal Content, for example from a court or authority decision or from a Report that shows it clearly, we remove it or block access to it promptly.

We choose an action in proportion to the breach, taking into account how serious it is, whether it was deliberate, the harm to others and any earlier breaches. While we review a serious Report, we may remove Content or restrict an Account until we decide.

Measures concerning selling and festivals are in the Creator and Organizer Terms, section 13 "Suspension and ending your selling" and the Festival Submission Terms, section 10 "Suspension and removal of Festivals". The general rules on suspending and closing Accounts, including prepaid amounts, are in the Terms of Service, section 12 "Suspension, termination and ending the Service". We cooperate with courts and authorities as the Legal Compliance Policy, section 5 "Cooperation with authorities and payment partners" describes.

9. Decisions and reasons

When we act against your Content, Account, Listings or Festival, we email you a statement of reasons at your Account email address. It says:

• what we did, and to which Content or Account;
• which rule of these Guidelines, another Legal Document or the law we applied;
• the facts that led to the decision, and whether it followed a Report;
• whether an automated tool was involved;
• how long the measure lasts;
• how to appeal (section 10).

The message about a suspension that you see in the Service is short; the email gives the reasons. We leave out the reasons, or the email, only where the law forbids sending them or where they would put someone's safety at risk.

If you reported the Content, we tell you what we decided. We do not tell the reported User who reported them unless the law requires it, as it does for copyright Notices (Copyright and IP Complaints, section 3 "What happens after a Notice").

10. Appeals

You can appeal a Moderation decision that concerns you, or one about Content you reported. This includes decisions under other Legal Documents that point to this section, such as restrictions on selling, on a Festival or on paid features.

• Write to support@sphere.art within 30 days of the decision email, from your Account email address if you have one.
• Say which decision you appeal and why, and add anything that supports your case.
• We answer within 14 days, with reasons. Where possible, a moderator who did not take the first decision reviews the Appeal.
• We may confirm, change or reverse the decision. If we reverse it, we restore the Content or the Account as far as we can.

The decision stays in force while we review the Appeal. Removals after a copyright Notice have their own procedure in Copyright and IP Complaints, section 4 "Counter-notice and restoration". An Appeal does not limit your right to go to court under the Terms of Service, section 14 "Complaints, disputes and governing law", or to use any other route the law gives you.

11. Repeat violations and false Reports

We take earlier breaches into account. Repeated breaches lead to longer suspensions and, in the end, to closure of the Account. Repeat copyright infringers lose their Accounts under Copyright and IP Complaints, section 5 "Repeat infringers".

Report in good faith. If you often send Reports that are clearly unfounded, we may warn you and then stop handling your Reports for a period. Knowingly false or abusive Reports, such as Reports meant to harass someone or to remove a competitor's Content, can lead to a warning, a suspension or the closure of your Account.

12. Changes and contact

We may update this document. We tell you about material changes by email and in the Service at least 14 days before they take effect, and at least 30 days before for changes to Seller fees, Payouts or selling rules, as set out in the Terms of Service, section 15 "Changes to the Service and the Legal Documents". Earlier versions of this document are available on request at legal@sphere.art.

Write to support@sphere.art with questions about these Guidelines, Reports and Appeals, and to copyright@sphere.art about copyright.