On June 4th, FF.Net started removing stories from their site because they stated that the deleted tales were rated MA for sex or violence, and will soon start deleting stories with song lyrics. Problem is, the stories that have disappeared so far were not all that graphic, OR that bad, and most of the ones with song lyrics are excellent, too.

As a result, FF.Net will most likely be losing most, if not all, of their best authors, and a good chunk of their readers.

Most every other site that hosts fanfiction offers a Mature Audiences rating: MediaMiner, PaperDemon, An Archive of Our Own, Forever Fandom, and Fan Works, Inc. are prime examples. Even deviantArt offers their art and literature contributors the option of a Mature Audience rating with appropriate filtering.  Many of those same sites allow for songfics.

We, the undersigned, ask the people who own and administer Fanfiction.Net to offer the option of a Mature Audiences rating, with appropriate filters, for fanfictions. Filters would include having to at least be a registered free member to read ANY MA material, and having to prove that they are at least 17 years of age before they can.  We also ask that they NOT delete stories containing song lyrics, as we already acknowldge in our mandatory disclaimers that the songs don't belong to us and we're not making a profit from using them.

These filters are not only for the readers' protection, but the authors and, ultimately, FF.Net's protection as well.  We would rather see FF.Net as a healthy, thriving site where people can go to enjoy a good story than an oppressive site where you can have a story deleted for whatever reason.