Terms and contributor rights
You retain copyright in your work. These terms explain the limited, non-exclusive licence needed to publish it here, plus the rules for fair voting, moderation and content reporting.
Edited by Doug Weller · Editorial standards
Last updated: 2 August 2026
Original writers retain copyright
If you submit your own story, you remain its copyright owner. Submitting to Six Word Story does not transfer ownership to us, prevent you from publishing the work elsewhere, or give us an exclusive right to it.
The non-exclusive licence you grant
When you submit your own story, you grant Six Word Story a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, reproduce, display, format and distribute the submission, with your chosen attribution, as part of operating and promoting the website and its editorial activities. The licence allows reasonable technical changes such as resizing, line wrapping and formatting, and minor editorial corrections to spacing, capitalization, punctuation or category that do not materially change the creative work.
We may display an excerpt or image of the submission in Six Word Story newsletters, search previews and Six Word Story or Six Word Wonder social posts that promote the site, its collections or the form. We may allow hosting, email, social-media and other service providers to process the work only as needed for those purposes.
Correction and removal
You may request a correction or removal through our content reporting route. Once a verified removal request is actioned, we will stop displaying the work on the site within a reasonable period. Copies may remain briefly in backups, search caches, social posts already published, or material shared by other people outside our control.
What you promise
If you choose “This is my story,” you confirm that the submission is your original work and that you have the right to post it. Do not submit copied work, private information, threats, unlawful content, targeted abuse, spam or material that infringes another person’s rights.
Stories found elsewhere
If you choose “I found it online,” you are sharing a community-supplied source, not claiming authorship or granting a licence in another person's work. Supply the original page where possible and identify the creator honestly, including “unknown” where attribution is uncertain. Sourced stories publish immediately and may later be corrected, relabelled or removed if reported or if automated checks identify a problem. Publication does not imply that the contributor owns the work or that the linked website endorses Six Word Story.
Moderation
We may reject, hide or remove submissions, votes or accounts at our discretion, particularly where they appear abusive, manipulated, unlawful or spectacularly unrelated to six words. Our public editorial standards explain the principles used in ordinary moderation.
Voting
Vote once per story and do not automate, buy, coordinate or otherwise manipulate votes. Rankings may change as we improve fraud controls and the ranking formula. See how the rankings work.
Not a contest entry
Submitting to this community site does not enter the Six Word Wonder Contest. The contest has a separate entry process and separate rules.
Reporting content
Anyone may report suspected plagiarism, incorrect attribution, private information, harmful material or another editorial concern. Using the Report button immediately hides the story while it enters the editorial holding pen. Review under our editorial standards determines whether it is restored, corrected or permanently removed. Rankings and popularity never override copyright, safety or attribution concerns.
Availability and liability
The service is provided as available. We cannot promise uninterrupted access, permanent publication, a particular ranking or universal recognition of your genius. To the extent permitted by law, Six Word Story is not liable for indirect loss arising from use of the site.
Contact
Questions about these terms can be sent to doug@sixwordstory.net.