RATINGS AND COPYRIGHT STUFF

      Fan fic operates on similar principles as TV and Movies do. Everything we do should be marked with a rating warning, in the case of content that may be too much for the younger audiences. The general audience of the Jericho fandom ranges from age 14 (potentially some younger) and above. In addition, while writing for a fandom based on a TV Show or Movie, you are in fact dealing with the original copyrights of the show, and shouldn't be infringing upon them. The following is the rating system suggested for use within the fandom, as well as the copyright disclaimers that you should take notice of for your stories. (borrowed from several fan fiction resources)

Rating	Description
G	Good clean fun for all ages, no bad words, no adult situations, no sexual situations
PG	Mild implied sexual innuendo, mild bad words, or violence or serious (though not quite mature) topics, mild horror.
PG-13/MA	Some violence, bad language, obvious sexual innuendo, implied sexual relations. Also may include some mature topics such as suicide, homosexuality, drug/alcohol advocacy, rape aftermath, details of childbirth, etc. depending on the mores of the fandom involved.
R	Just-short-of-explicit sex, graphic torture or violence, rape. Not recommended for anyone underage.
NC-17	Explicit sex, same sex sexual situations, explicit erotica, excessively gory violence. Often illegal for underage readers.
X	The same as NC-17 but only in reference to sex. No longer used by some fandoms.
XXX	Graphic pornagraphic situations, with only pornagraphic situations, nothing else to even water it down-- rarely seen and not encouraged in fanfic circles

Additional Warnings:

Abbreviation	Warning	Uses
AL	Adult Language	Anytime any word that is objectionable to others is used; profanity
AS	Adult Situations	Sexual Innuendo, Medium Violence, Horror, Death, Rape Aftermath
EV	Extreme Violence	Gory fights, blood n' guts type gore, shootings, stabbings (in detail)
V	Violence	Standard fights, hostile situations, shootings, stabbings (but not in detail)
NCS	Non Concentual Situation	Rape
SS	Sexual (or Slash) Situation	Described Sexual acts, or full sexual innuendo must be accompanied by a m/m, f/f or m/f
m/m	Male/Male	Male to male sex
f/f	Female/Female	Female to female sex
m/f	Male/Female	Male/Female sexual situation

Your copyright information should include such statements as:

This is a work of fiction.

Jericho and its characters (2006, Jericho) copyright Junction Entertainment and CBS

No copyright infringement is implied or intended.

You can go one step further if you have introduced your own characters, or otherwise by stating that they and the story are copyrighted to you. This identifies you as the owner of your fan fiction story, and the characters that are yours.

This information should be present on your story, or at the beginning of your website.

If your story has graphic sexual scenes within it, you must mark it with a rating, as well as warn the readers about the type of sex inside, whether it be m/m, f/f or m/f. This is generally termed as slash (except for m/f which is sometimes termed as 'het') in the fan fic world, but since most people don't know what slash is, it would be best to issue a warning within your story about the situation that the reader will encounter, in as much detail as possible. (Ex. 'This story contains graphic sexual content of a male/male nature, reader's discretion is advised.')

If your story has extreme violence, it should be marked with a rating to warn the younger readers.

If you use any characters from any other fandoms, make sure you credit their copyright information as well.

If you use any characters from any other story universes within the fandom, make sure to credit the author.

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