Content Policy

OpenStand is a platform where independent writers publish essays, investigations, reflections, and ideas — and where readers support that work by unlocking individual pieces. This policy exists to protect readers, creators, and the integrity of the platform.

We believe anyone should be able to publish. We also believe readers deserve to trust what they find here. This policy explains how we balance those two commitments.

How OpenStand works

Any creator can sign up, write, and publish on OpenStand. Published work is immediately live at its own URL and can be shared with anyone.

Publishing is open. Discovery starts once we've met you. Your work goes live at its own URL the moment you publish, and anyone with the link can read and unlock it. When a new creator publishes, we look at that first piece to get to know the person who wrote it. After that, your work can appear on the home page, in collections, in recommendations and in email digests, and later pieces reach those places as you publish them. Where work doesn't meet the standards in Layer 2, we may take it off our discovery surfaces; it stays live at its direct URL.

Readers unlock individual pieces, usually by spending from their balance. Because real money flows through the platform to creators, we hold ourselves to a higher standard than free platforms. Readers who unlock a piece are trusting that they'll get something worth their time and money.

Layer 1: Platform rules

These are the hard lines. Violating any of these may result in content removal, loss of discovery access, or account suspension.

We do not allow:

Harmful content. Content that threatens, encourages, or incites violence against any person or group. Content that promotes self-harm. Content that exploits or endangers minors in any way.

Hate. Content that promotes violence, harassment, or hatred against people based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, age, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation. This includes content that dehumanizes, degrades, or calls for the exclusion or segregation of people based on these characteristics.

Harassment and doxxing. Content that bullies, threatens, or targets specific individuals. Publishing private information (home addresses, phone numbers, financial records) to intimidate or expose someone. Non-consensual intimate imagery.

Plagiarism. Publishing work written by someone else and presenting it as your own. This includes republishing articles, essays, or substantial excerpts from other sources without permission and attribution.

Fraud and deception. Impersonating another person or organization. Publishing deliberately false information presented as fact with intent to deceive. Creating fake accounts, self-unlocking your own content, or artificially inflating unlock counts through any means.

Spam and manipulation. Bulk-publishing low-effort content designed to extract money rather than provide value. Gaming the platform's recommendation or discovery systems. Repetitive self-promotional content with no substantive value.

Illegal content. Content that facilitates illegal activity or violates applicable law.

Sexually explicit content. Pornographic material or content created primarily for sexual gratification. (Thoughtful writing about sexuality, health, and relationships is welcome.)

Who we host

People known for promoting violence or hatred. We may decline to host, or stop hosting, a creator who is publicly known for promoting violence, or for promoting hatred against people based on the characteristics listed under Hate above, whether they do it on OpenStand or elsewhere. This rule is about a person's public conduct, not the views any particular piece argues. We decide case by case, from what is publicly documented.

Layer 2: Discovery standards

These are the standards we hold our discovery surfaces to, and what we look at when we read a creator's work. Not meeting them doesn't get your content removed — it means we may take the work off those surfaces, where it stays live at its direct URL and anyone with the link can still read it. We'll tell you specifically what needs to change.

We look for:

Original thought. The piece should contain your own ideas, analysis, perspective, or experience. We're looking for writing that couldn't have been written by anyone else — not because it's perfect, but because it's distinctly yours.

Human authorship. Your work should be substantially written by you, not generated by AI. We don't prohibit AI assistance for editing, grammar, or brainstorming, but the ideas, structure, and voice should be recognizably human. If the majority of the text reads like it came from a language model, it won't qualify for discovery.

Substantive content. The piece should offer genuine value to a reader — an argument, a story, a framework, an investigation, an insight. We're not looking for a specific length, but we are looking for depth. Listicles, SEO-optimized content, and thinly repurposed social media posts don't meet this bar.

Honest representation. The title, subtitle, and preview should accurately represent what the reader will find after unlocking. Because readers commit money before seeing the full piece, misleading framing — clickbait titles, bait-and-switch previews, or wildly oversold promises — is a particular concern. If a piece is freely available elsewhere (on your blog, another platform, etc.), that context should be visible to readers — for instance, in the subtitle or creator note. Readers who unlock a piece and later find it available for free experience a real trust erosion, even if the content itself is excellent.

Not primarily promotional. If the piece exists mainly to sell a product, service, or course, it's not a fit for OpenStand's discovery surfaces. Writing that mentions your work, your company, or your offerings in the context of a larger argument or story is fine. Writing that is the sales pitch is not.

Craft. The piece should be readable — coherent structure, reasonable grammar, clear expression. We're not expecting literary perfection, and we value diverse voices and styles. But the work should demonstrate effort and care.

Sensitivity and context. If your piece covers graphic, intense, or potentially distressing material — detailed accounts of trauma, violence, addiction, etc. — we encourage you to provide context in your subtitle, preview, or a brief note at the top of the piece. This isn't a rule; it's a norm we value. On a platform where readers commit money before seeing the full work, giving them enough context to make an informed decision is part of respecting their trust.

Layer 3: Reader trust commitments

These are our promises to readers about what they'll find on OpenStand.

What you unlock is what was represented. The preview, title, and tags should give an honest picture of the full piece. No bait-and-switch.

Every creator in discovery is someone we've met. A piece can be live at its own link before then, so you may reach one from a creator we haven't met yet. Everything here is subject to our platform rules (Layer 1) whether we've read it or not, and we remove work that breaks them.

Tell us when we've missed something. Because review follows publication, reader reports carry real weight. If something doesn't belong here, say so — see Reporting below.

Your unlocks stay in your library. Every unlock is a deliberate decision — we never auto-charge you. Once you've unlocked a piece, it stays in your library, subject to our Terms of Service. If a creator later leaves the platform, unpublishes a piece, or has it removed for a policy violation, the copy you already unlocked stays in your library. It may disappear from the storefront, but your access doesn't change, so there's nothing to refund. The one exception is content we're legally required to take down: illegal material, content that endangers minors, or a valid copyright claim. In those cases we must disable the content itself, including your copy, so you lose access through no fault of your own — and we return whatever you paid for it. If you unlocked the piece with a free pass, no money changed hands, so there's nothing to return. A claim about a single image in a piece is different: we remove that image and leave the piece, and your copy, in place.

Enforcement

How we handle Layer 1 violations

• The piece is taken off the platform's public surfaces
• The creator receives an email explaining the specific rule that was violated
• Serious or repeated violations may lead to account suspension: publishing is disabled and the creator's work no longer appears in discovery
• Violations involving threats of violence, content that endangers minors, or fraud may lead to immediate suspension without warning
• We weigh severity and context in each case rather than applying a fixed schedule of penalties
• Readers who already unlocked the piece keep their copy — removal takes it off the storefront, not out of their library
• If we're legally required to take the content down (illegal material, content that endangers minors, or a valid copyright claim), the copy is disabled everywhere, including readers' libraries, and we return whatever those readers paid

How we apply Who we host

• We suspend or close the creator's account, and the creator receives an email naming this rule
• The creator's pieces leave the storefront; readers who already unlocked them keep their copies

How we handle Layer 2 gaps

• Creator receives specific, constructive feedback explaining which standards weren't met (see the criteria table below)
• Content remains live at its direct URL — readers who have the link can still access it
• Creator can revise the piece and we'll read it again, or publish new work that meets the standards

How we handle a single image

We can remove one image without touching the rest of the piece. The piece stays up, and a placeholder takes the image's place everywhere it appeared, readers' libraries included. Readers keep the piece, so removing an image doesn't refund anyone.

• If we find a problem with an image ourselves, we tell you first and give you a few days to replace it or show us where it came from. We remove it only if nothing changes.
• If we receive a valid copyright notice about an image, we remove it promptly and tell you right away, with the notice and how to respond. If you send a valid counter-notice, we follow Counter-notification below.
• If an image is illegal, child sexual abuse material above all, we remove it at once and report it to the authorities the law requires, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. We don't notify the creator first.

Your options if we take action

If your content was removed for a Layer 1 violation, or your account was suspended or closed under Who we host: You can email us at support@openstand.co to discuss the decision. We'll explain our reasoning. If we made a mistake, we'll restore the content.

If your work didn't meet discovery standards: The feedback email will tell you specifically what to improve. You're welcome to reply with questions. We want you to succeed — our goal is a platform full of great writing, and that means helping creators get there.

Reporting

If you encounter content on OpenStand that you believe violates this policy, email us at support@openstand.co with a link to the piece and what you think is wrong with it. Reports are read by a person. We don't take automated action on reports — someone reads the content and makes the call.

Copyright and DMCA

We respect intellectual property, and we expect our creators to as well. If you believe content on OpenStand infringes your copyright, you can ask us to remove it, and we'll respond under the process below. This follows the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Images you add

When you add an image to a piece, you're making the promise the Writer Terms ask of everything you publish: you own it, or its owner has given you the right to publish it here. A picture you found online usually isn't yours to use. Images follow every rule in this policy, the same as words.

Reporting infringement (takedown notice)

Send a written notice to our Designated Agent (below) that includes all of the following:

1. Your physical or electronic signature.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work you say has been infringed.
3. Identification of the material on OpenStand you say is infringing, with enough detail for us to find it — including the URL of the piece and, if your notice concerns an image, which image.
4. Your contact information: name, mailing address, phone number, and email address.
5. A statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use of the material is not authorized by you, your agent, or the law.
6. A statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the owner's behalf.

We'll review a valid notice and, where appropriate, remove or disable access to the material and notify the creator who posted it. We aim to respond within 5 business days.

Designated Agent

Copyright notices must go to our Designated Agent:

Copyright Agent
OpenStand
1524 Sixth Avenue, Belmont, CA 94002
Phone: (650) 605-3393
Email: dmca@openstand.co

Counter-notification

If your content was removed and you believe it was a mistake or misidentification, you can send a counter-notice to the Designated Agent that includes all of the following:

1. Your physical or electronic signature.
2. Identification of the material that was removed and the location where it appeared before removal.
3. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that you have a good-faith belief the material was removed as a result of mistake or misidentification.
4. Your name, mailing address, and phone number, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the federal court for your district (or, if you're outside the United States, any judicial district in which OpenStand may be found), and that you'll accept service of process from the person who filed the original notice.

If we receive a valid counter-notice, we may restore the material in 10–14 business days, unless the original complainant tells us they've filed a court action to keep it down.

Repeat infringers

We will, in appropriate circumstances, disable or terminate the accounts of creators who repeatedly infringe others' copyrights.

Review criteria and feedback templates

When a piece doesn't meet discovery standards, we provide specific feedback. Here are the criteria we evaluate and the messages we send:

What this policy doesn't cover

We don't evaluate ideas. Whether we agree with your argument is irrelevant. We'll feature provocative, controversial, or unpopular viewpoints as long as they're presented thoughtfully and don't violate our platform rules. Intellectual diversity is a feature, not a bug.

We don't require credentials. You don't need to be a professional writer, a published author, or an expert in your subject. We care about the quality of the work, not the resume behind it.

We don't impose exclusivity. Your work on OpenStand is yours. You can also publish it elsewhere — on your blog, on Substack, wherever you like. We don't claim any rights beyond what's needed to display and distribute your work on our platform. If you do cross-post, we ask that you be transparent about it with readers (see "honest representation" above).

This policy is a living document and will evolve as the platform grows. Significant changes will be communicated to all creators. Questions or concerns: support@openstand.co