The following is the official policy on deviantART for the submission of nude art. NUDE ART is any type of art work containing the nude body. NUDE ART is not limited to just photography, but also consists of life-like sketches, drawings, renderings and potentially even explicit and highly descriptive writings.

First and foremost nudity on deviantART will not be purged from galleries and model releases will not be required for every submission of nude art.

With that said, I would like to take this opportunity to communicate what we expect of you when you choose to submit NUDE ART or EROTIC ART to the website.

NO MODELS UNDER THE AGE OF 18. It goes without saying that if you submit nude art of an underage model, deviantART will not only delete it but will ban you and report you to the appropriate authorities. If you are under the age of 18 you are not permitted to submit nude art of yourself. We will remove your account and may still report you to the proper authorities. I know that last part sounds funny, but keep your underage behind to yourself please. Don't make me tell your parents, it will be embarrassing. And they could find themselves in a lot of trouble for permitting you to do this. This is not a laughing matter to us at all.

THE MODEL MUST KNOW OF YOUR INTENT TO PUBLISH. Any model depicted nude in any of your art works must have the full understanding that you intend to expose the work derived from their nude body in a public setting. The model must be at least 18 years of age.

MODEL RELEASES. For your own protection it is highly recommended that you have the nude model sign a release form giving you the explicit permission to publish, share, distribute, etc. Without this you are NOT COVERED from personal liability if the nude model gets upset that you posted their nude body to deviantART. Keep in mind that the deviantART submission agreement directs all blame for wrongdoing with the contents of an image to the person that the deviantART account belongs to. In other words; they sue us, they’re suing you. You will be permitted to optionally submit a model release for the photographs you give us. The deviantART Model Release would be preferable, but a generalized model release is also acceptable. Remember, this is optional for deviations.

NO SEXUAL THEMES. This means no displays of sexual acts of any kind, no displays of masturbation, no displays of erections, no displays of male ejaculates or excess female lubricants and no other pornographic or explicit sexual posing or displays. For underage models, this rule is applicable even if the model is not nude. In other words, minors are not allowed to be depicted in a sexual way regardless of the context.

NO GRATUITOUS NUDITY This is a vague guideline, but in essence we are actively encouraging the submission of 'artistic' nudes and not simple shots of naked people. Your nude submission should obviously possess some artistic merit as judged by the administration. Most deviations which are classified as gratuitous are those in which the only evident purpose of the photograph is to display a person’s penis, testicles, vagina, breast, nipples, or buttocks.



Changes that are being Made

The term “erotic art” will no longer be used to describe a category of art. By allowing artists to freely submit art in to the “erotic art” section, we are making an association that we cannot guarantee the model gave specific approval for, and I’m sure it is understandable that some folks out there would prefer not to be featured in any “erotic” setting unless they specifically agreed to. Categories permitting nude art will likely be renamed to something like, “Nude Art,” “Nudes,” “Nude Photography,” etc.

Existing deviations featuring models that APPEAR TO BE UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE will require the submission of a model release that will require the signature of the photographer and the model. In some rare instances where we have reasonable doubt, we will require a scan of the models' drivers license or photo identification. deviantART Administrators will have a BUTTON they can press to request a model release if they suspect in their sole discretion, that a nude model is under the age of 18. Unfortunately we have absolutely no choice in this matter. Without this rule we cannot allow nude submissions of art to deviantART at all. Please weigh your arguments accordingly.

NUDE ART MADE AVAILABLE FOR PRINT under the deviantART Print Program will require that you have a signed deviantART model release form. NUDE ART currently available for sale will soon be temporarily suspended until a model release is submitted. In other words; you can sell nude photography, but we must have a signed release from for you to do this. We have no choice in this, legally speaking selling nude art is an entirely different ball game from posting nude art to a website. Please understand that we wish more so than you do that we did not have to go this route, but we do absolutely have to.

PLEASE NOTE: NONE OF THE ABOVE CHANGES ARE TAKING EFFECT IMMEDIATELY. These changes will be implemented over the course of the next 30 days. Don’t be surprised when you see them. You will have an opportunity to submit releases and otherwise at the time any of this takes effect and you will have plenty of time to submit releases BEFORE your artwork is taken offline.

A COPY OF THE DEVIANTART MODEL RELEASE can be found here if you would like to get a head start on getting these signed. Instructions: Print, sign, get the model to sign, scan, save. You will be able to submit model releases soon. Getting a head start is a good idea if you believe your art work will be subject to these rules!

If you look at this situation objectively, these rules are very fair. We hope you see the reasoning why we must make these changes so that we can be a more socially responsible website. We hope that these changes do not offend anyone, and if they do, please don’t be mad at us!