NextScenes Contributor Policy

1. Purpose of this Policy

NextScenes allows writers, readers, and contributors to take part in the development of stories under clear writing modes and Canon rules. This Contributor Policy explains how proposals, accepted contributions, contributor records, credit, manuscript export, and future benefit-sharing should be understood on the platform.

The purpose is to protect both sides of collaboration: the author should not lose control of an original Storyline, and the contributor should not disappear when an accepted contribution becomes part of the Canon. Good collaboration requires more than imagination. It requires honesty, discipline, clear records, and fair expectations.

2. Who Is a Contributor?

A contributor is a person who submits a proposed scene, continuation, text, or other creative material to a Storyline created on NextScenes. A contributor may be a registered writer, an invited group member, or another permitted participant, depending on the writing mode and the rules of the Storyline.

A contributor is not automatically the owner of the whole Storyline simply because they submit a proposal. Their rights and recognition are connected to their own submitted material and, where approved, to the portion of that material accepted into the official Canon.

3. Originality of Submitted Contributions

Every contributor is responsible for submitting only work they created or work they have the legal right to submit. A contributor should not submit stolen work, copied passages, copyrighted material used without permission, defamatory content, private material belonging to another person, or content falsely presented as original.

By submitting a contribution on NextScenes, the contributor confirms that the material is original to them or that they have the necessary rights to submit it. This protects the contributor, the author, the platform, and any future manuscript that may come from the Storyline. A house built with stolen wood may stand for a while, but one day the owner of the forest will come asking questions.

4. Proposals Are Not Canon Until Approved

A proposal is a suggested contribution. It may guide, inspire, or offer a possible next scene, but it does not become part of the official Storyline unless it is approved under the applicable writing mode and platform rules.

Pending proposals are not Canon, rejected proposals are not Canon, and reader comments, votes, reactions, or discussions do not become Canon unless the author or authorized story controller approves a specific contribution through the platform’s approval process. Until approval, the proposal remains separate from the official Storyline.

5. Submission Does Not Transfer Control of the Storyline

Submitting a proposal does not give a contributor control over the entire Storyline. It does not make the contributor a co-owner of the author’s original concept, title, characters, setting, world-building, synopsis, or existing Canon scenes unless a separate written agreement clearly says so.

NextScenes is designed to allow participation without disorder. A contributor may offer creative material, but the author or authorized story controller decides whether that material belongs in the official Canon, except where a specific group arrangement creates a different decision structure.

6. What Happens When a Proposal Is Accepted

When a proposal is accepted into Canon, the accepted contribution becomes part of the official Storyline. From that point, it may be included in the Canon, shown in the Storyline, used in manuscript generation, and recorded as an accepted contribution under the platform’s contribution records.

Acceptance into Canon does not erase the contributor’s role. Instead, it creates a record that the contribution was accepted and became part of the Storyline. This record may later support credit, internal tracking, editorial review, and possible benefit-sharing discussions where applicable.

7. Contributor Records and Credit

NextScenes may record contributor information when a proposal is accepted. This may include the contributor’s name or username, the accepted scene title, the scene number, the date of acceptance, the accepted word count, the decision record, and the contributor’s approximate share of the accepted Canon text where applicable.

These records are important because memory alone is not a reliable archive. A contributor who helped build part of the Canon should be traceable in the platform’s records, and an author should also be protected from uncertain or exaggerated claims. The record serves both fairness and discipline.

8. Contributor Appendix in Manuscript Export

NextScenes may allow a generated manuscript to include a contributor appendix. The contributor appendix is intended for internal records, contribution tracking, transparency, and future discussions about credit or benefit-sharing where applicable.

A manuscript without the contributor appendix may be more suitable for editors, agents, publishers, outside readers, and general manuscript review. Removing the contributor appendix from an exported manuscript does not erase the platform’s contribution records where those records exist. It simply creates a cleaner document for external reading or professional review.

9. Contributor Credit Versus Ownership of the Whole Work

Contributor credit and ownership of the whole Storyline are not the same thing. A contributor whose scene is accepted should be credited or recorded for that accepted contribution, but that does not automatically make the contributor the owner of the entire Storyline or all related creative elements.

The author’s original work and the contributor’s accepted contribution can both be respected without confusing one for the other. This distinction is important because a collaborative story needs fair recognition, but it also needs clear authority.

10. Future Publication and Commercial Use

A Storyline that includes accepted contributions may later become suitable for publication, printing, sale, audio production, film adaptation, educational use, or another commercial purpose. When that happens, the existence of accepted contributions should be handled with fairness and clarity.

As a general principle, accepted Canon contributions should be recognized and considered in any future benefit-sharing arrangement unless another written agreement applies. NextScenes may use accepted contribution records to help identify who contributed to the Canon and to what extent. However, NextScenes does not automatically guarantee publication, royalties, payment, commercial success, publisher acceptance, or legal co-authorship of the whole Storyline.

11. Default Contribution Measurement

Unless another written agreement applies, NextScenes may use accepted Canon word count as a practical default method for measuring contribution. For example, if a final Canon manuscript contains 50,000 accepted words and a contributor has 5,000 accepted words in the Canon, that contributor’s recorded contribution may be calculated as 10% of the accepted Canon text.

This method is practical and transparent, but it is not a complete legal judgment of creative value. Some contributions may have importance beyond word count, and some projects may require a separate written agreement before publication, licensing, adaptation, or commercial release.

12. No Automatic Promise of Payment

Submitting a proposal or having a proposal accepted into Canon does not automatically create a promise of payment, royalties, employment, partnership, agency, or publisher representation. Any payment, royalty, licensing, or commercial benefit-sharing arrangement should be clearly stated in writing before it is relied upon.

This protects contributors from false expectations and protects authors from unintended obligations. Fairness begins with clarity, not assumptions whispered after the harvest.

13. Contributor Responsibilities During Collaboration

Contributors should respect the writing mode, tone, direction, and Canon authority of each Storyline. They should submit work in good faith, avoid harassment or bad-faith disruption, respect platform rules, and understand that rejection of a proposal is not theft or disrespect.

A rejected proposal may still be a good piece of writing; it may simply not fit the Storyline. Collaboration is not a guarantee that every idea will enter the Canon. It is an invitation to offer something worthy and accept the decision process with maturity.

14. Use of Rejected or Unaccepted Proposals

A rejected or unaccepted proposal does not become part of the official Canon. Unless the proposal violates platform rules or a separate agreement says otherwise, the contributor generally remains connected to their own rejected or unaccepted material and may use it elsewhere, provided that doing so does not misuse the author’s protected Storyline elements, characters, setting, or confidential project material.

This balance matters. The author should not take rejected material and use it as Canon without proper approval or record, and the contributor should not use the author’s original Storyline as if it belongs to them. Both sides should leave the gate with what is honestly theirs.

15. Platform Rights Needed to Operate

To operate properly, NextScenes needs limited permission to host, display, store, process, transmit, moderate, and manage submitted contributions. This allows the platform to receive proposals, show accepted Canon scenes, maintain contributor records, generate manuscripts, preserve decision logs, and support security and moderation.

This operational permission does not mean NextScenes becomes the owner of the contributor’s original submitted material. It means the platform has permission to perform the services requested by the contributor and the Storyline participants when they use NextScenes.

16. Disputes and Corrections

If there is a disagreement about a contribution, contributor record, Canon approval, credit, or use of a submitted proposal, NextScenes may review available platform records. These may include proposal records, scene history, approval records, timestamps, user identities, decision logs, and manuscript export records where available.

NextScenes may correct errors where reasonable and supported by available records. Where a dispute involves legal ownership, payment, publishing contracts, adaptation rights, or external commercial agreements, the parties may need independent legal advice.

17. What NextScenes Does Not Automatically Do

NextScenes does not automatically accept every proposal, make every contributor a co-owner of the entire Storyline, guarantee payment or royalties, publish a book, sell a manuscript, represent contributors as an agent, or replace professional legal advice. The platform provides structure, contribution records, collaboration tools, and manuscript generation; it does not turn every contribution into a commercial contract by magic.

This honesty is part of the trust NextScenes wants to build. A clear boundary today prevents a bitter quarrel tomorrow.

18. Changes to this Policy

NextScenes may update this Contributor Policy as the platform grows, as writing modes develop, and as collaboration tools become more advanced. When important changes are made, NextScenes should make reasonable efforts to notify users or make the updated policy visible.

The aim of any update should remain the same: to respect authors, recognize contributors, protect Canon integrity, and support fair collaboration.

19. Plain-Language Summary

In simple terms, contributors may submit proposals only where the writing mode allows it. A proposal is not Canon until approved, and submission does not give the contributor control over the whole Storyline. Accepted contributions are recorded, and those records may support credit, internal tracking, manuscript appendices, and possible future benefit-sharing discussions where applicable.

Contributors should submit only original work or work they have the right to use. NextScenes provides the platform and records, but it does not automatically guarantee publication, royalties, payment, or legal co-authorship of the entire Storyline.

20. Closing Principle

NextScenes believes contributors matter. A good contribution can strengthen a story, open a new path, and help a manuscript become richer than the author first imagined. But contribution must walk with order. The author’s original work must be protected, the Canon must remain clear, and accepted contributors must be remembered.

That is the spirit of this policy: collaboration with conscience, recognition with records, and imagination under fair rules.