#rivd

[tinypandacakes]

Attn authors on AO3! Just learned about this on a writing discord I’m in and thought I’d share.

A new website, https://rivd.net/, has cropped up and has been shown to have stolen/scraped works from Ao3, which are being scraped and uploaded at a rather impressive speed.

At this time, it isn't clear if site owners have wised up and have started taking the fics down, as the site requires an account and also the current *justified outrage* at this has led to an apparent overload on the site's servers, meaning they've basically shut down the search and privatized their fanfiction category.

The best way to protect your work if it has not already been scraped is by locking it to all logged out users. It’s unfortunate as guest comments and kudos are so precious to us authors, but it will protect your works from being scraped.

Further information can be found in this Reddit thread and the below screenshots: https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/comments/1dvyvqm/ao3_fics_being_uploaded_to_rivd_by_a_bot/

NOTE: DO NOT USE RIVD's DMCA TAKEDOWN FORM. You SHOULD NOT be required to provide your *government ID* to protect your intellectual property. This is borderline a phishing scam. RIVD is hosted by Cloudflare, who have a system for reporting abuse on sites which use their services which can be found at the following site: https://www.cloudflare.com/trust-hub/reporting-abuse/.

Thank you @punemy-spotted for compiling all this info and helping get the word out.

[lockandk3yfiction]

Report rivd for phishing here.

This site (rivd) reposts content without permission, asking for government ID, email, phone numbers, and other peronal information when reporting behavior that goes against their TOS.

This information should NOT be required and may prove harmful to those attempting to make a report.

[allemantheias]

Locking my works from now on.

With this Rivd(dot)net site scraping Ao3 with AI bots to post on their site, as if the Ao3 author did it themselves.

I've decided to lock all my works for registered users only. I'm sorry to who reads my CoD works on there without an account (please make one, the invite waiting time is not that bad anymore).

If you have your works open for unregistered users on Ao3, please check on the site mentioned if your works are on there, by searching for your Ao3 username. (Use an incognito tab if you prefer.)

Here is a little more info: https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/comments/1dvyvqm/ao3_fics_being_uploaded_to_rivd_by_a_bot/

[izfaish]

popping in from my tumblr break to say that due to the rivd situation, i've locked my fics on ao3 and squidgeworld.

you'll need to be logged into an account on each respective site to read my fics. a couple kn8 writers have done the same, plus writers from other fandoms. so if you were wondering whether to get an account, here's a sign ;;

[griseldagimpel]

RIVD Is Reposting Fan Fic Without Permission

rivd.net is reposting fan fic without permission.

You can contact them at [email protected].

If your fic has been reposted there without your permission, send them an email telling them to tale it down.

There's an asinine template they'll want you to use, but it requires your legal name and address, so ignore that. Just send an email without that information.

The site is being difficult about takedowns, but if enough authors contact them and are persistent enough, they'll back down just to get us out of their hair.

Keep emailing them until they comply.

And please repost to help spread the word.

[popcornfairy28]

Hey I've locked my fics for now

Due to concerns about RIVD, an AI company scraping AO3 right now, I've decided to lock my fics for only registered users. Currently, I'm keeping up my podfics for guests though, since the majority of those are of other people's works and I don't think they can scrape those as easily??? That may change though. I also have a few of my fics on fanfiction.net, which I can't lock there so 🤷‍♀️ I guess you can read them there if you're a guest.

I will probably eventually unlock my fics when this blows over, which should be a matter of weeks. But in the meantime it is also pretty easy to get an AO3 account, so I would encourage you to get that if you haven't already. I love all my guest readers, so just hang in there.

[allemantheias]

Now rivd is gone..

I'm unlocking my works again now rivd is taken down. But when something like rivd and lorefm happens again, i will go back to locking temporarily (or permanent depending on the issue).

I still recommend everyone without an ao3 account to get into the invite queue now. Ao3 is honestly a great site to be part of.

[star-h0pper]

looks like that ai fanfic scraping site has been taken down, so i'll unlock my fics!