Here is a new update of my old News Article on DeviantART's policies, now in line with the new policy violation report system.

DeviantART, like all other sites, suffers from a large number of unwanted material.
DeviantART is a growing community with active staff and admin doing so much to make everyone's time here a little more pleasant. But they also need help from the many deviants on the site to keep the galleries trimmed and tidy.

What is a Policy Violation?
A policy violation is a deviation that basically breaks the rules of DeviantART. When you join up, you must agree to the etiquette policy of DeviantART, which is the basic set of rules that must be followed during your time on deviantART. These rules are unfortunately rarely read when deviants join the site, but this does not make them any less important. These rules can be as simple as being nice to other deviants on the site, and more complex rules stating what can and cannot be submitted to deviantART.
A policy violation can come in many shapes and forms- some of which are more severe than others in the eyes of the Copyright and Etiquette Administrators.
Here is a simple list of what is not tolerated on deviantART:
Miscategorisation of deviations
Copyright infringement violations, otherwise known as 'Art Ripping' or 'Art Theft'.
Lack of a mature content tag when one is required
Prohibited content (content deemed inappropriate for this website)

These are each explained here with helpful links to the deviantART FAQ where appropriate.
If you see an image on DeviantART that you feel may break the rules, check out the Help and FAQ for a fully searchable FAQ, or read on.

How can I Report a Policy Violation?
Every deviation on DeviantART has a “Report Deviation” button located below the image and to the right of the 'Artist's Comments' box. Clicking on it will open a box over the deviation page where you can submit the type of policy it violates and also a description of how the image violates policy. Saying you just don't like the image is not enough. There needs to be a VALID reason.
The 'Report Policy Violation' box has 4 types of violation listed on the left hand side. The box also shows you the thumbnail of the image you are reporting, as well as the title and the deviant that submitted it.

What classes as a Policy Violation on deviantART?
The deviantART FAQ is very clear about what is not appropriate content to submit to the site. The 'Report Deviation' button on each deviation page will have a selection of four choices to begin with. To submit a policy violation report, choose the most appropriate description of the deviation you are reporting.
There are four main types of violation, and they are noted in this order on the “Report Deviation” form:
Prohibited Content
Misplaced Deviation
Art Theft or No Permission
Mature Tag needed

What is Prohibited Content?
When clicking on the Prohibited Content button, you will be given more choices regarding an image including prohibited content. This is the choice you will need to apply when you see a deviation that has any of the following problems (ALL of which are against deviantART rules):
Pornography: This is mainly self explanatory, but many people seem to get confused with what is 'Artistic nude' and what is pornography. Pornography is classed as an image that contains: Masturbation, Sexual Intercourse, Sexual bodily fluids, Erections, Vaginal or anal spreading and Adult toys (sex toys)
There are clarified in detail in the FAQ entry FAQ #565: You prohibit the submission of 'pornographic imagery'; what do you consider this to be?
Underage Nudity: The nudity of minors (people younger than 18 years old) is strictly prohibited on deviantART. This means that no images depicting the genitalia of a child below the age of 18 is allowed for submission on deviantART. Children may be shown nude, only provided they have not yet reached their 2nd birthday. Any nudity or partial nudity found that depicts a child between the age of 2 and 18 is prohibited.
The rules are clarified in detail in the FAQ entry: FAQ #249: Are there restrictions on photographs of teenagers or children?
$realitysquared has also clarified this issue in a recent news article Here
Hate Art: Hate art or hate propaganda is classed as art promoting the acts or themes of genocide, racism or death against an identifiable individual, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, nationality or ethnic origin. These are all serious prejudicial issues and are not tolerated on deviantART due to their offensive nature. This means ANY image appearing to belittle any of the above will be classed as a policy violation.
The rules are clarified in detail in the FAQ entry: FAQ #12: deviantART prohibits the submission of 'Hate Art' and 'Hate Propaganda', how is this defined?
Self Harm: Images depicting real injury or self harm are prohibited on deviantART. If a deviant has not stated they have used Special FX make up, and you believe the injury shown is real, you should report it to staff saying you believe it is real. The issue of self harm itself is something individuals should seek help for, and at no point is cutting ones own skin for the sake of art allowed on deviantART.
Other/Not Listed: If you have found an image that you still believe is prohibited on deviantART and it is not listed, report it under 'Not Listed', but be sure to check the FAQ before hand to make sure it is prohibited. This may include images depicting animal cruelty, which are also prohibited on deviantART. Any incorrect reports sent to staff will either be rejected or flagged as not having enough information.

What is a misplaced deviation?
Otherwise known as a “Miscategorisation”. This is when an image or film uploaded to deviantART has been improperly placed within the categorisation system. For example, a photograph of a flower found in the fractal art gallery. This may not seem a major issue, but it is. If you can't be bothered to place art in the correct category, why should people be expected to view it? It also makes the categorisation system rater pointless. If everyone did it, searching by category would be useless. Choosing the correct category for your art allows people to search for it effectively and also keeps the place clean and tidy, aesthetically speaking.
Miscategorised images are moved to more suitable places by the Gallery Directors (anyone with a ^ prefix to their username), and a list of current gallery directors for the art galleries can be found Here.
There are many different categories for the galleries on deviantART- and often there are more suitable places to submit work to.
When reporting an image as a miscategorised image, you are required to find a more suitable place for it using the categories used on the “Browse Art” pages. If you are unsure where a picture should be placed, but you're sure it does not belong where you found it, place it into 'Scraps', and the Gallery Directors will put it in the most appropriate place.

What is Art Theft, Art Ripping or Copyright Violation?
An image is classed to be a copyright violation if it utilises any part of another copyrighted image (an image by a third party) without permission. This means if you use something from TV, Movies, Posters, Books, Magazines and CDs or DVDs, you are likely to be using something that has been copyrighted by the original owner. Only stock images are to be used in photomanipulations uploaded to deviantART. Other images may be used provided permission has been granted from the original owner. If this is not the case, the image will be counted as a copyright violation and will be removed by deviantART staff.
What are stock images? Stock photography and images are images uploaded to either deviantART (DeviantARTs Stock/Resources) or websites like Stock.xchng (Stock.xchng) that are allowed to be used in photomanipulations, as long as the original image/owner is credited (by adding their URL to the 'Artist's Comments' of your submitted image)
What about other images I've found on the internet and used? If you have found another image from the internet that is not a stock image, you MUST have permission from the original owner in the form of an email or correspondence you have had with the owner. Otherwise, You will not have permission and your image can be classed as a copyright violation and removed by the deviantART staff.
What If I do not have permission? If you do not have permission to use an image you have found, whether you have credited the original image of not, your work will be classed as a copyright violation and will be removed by staff. Stating WHERE you got the image from WILL NOT give you permission to use it. If you say 'I got it from google' or 'No idea where I found this' or anything along those lines, your work will again be classed as a copyright violation.
What If I've uploaded an image I found somewhere else and told everyone I did it? If you have submitted work to your account by someone else, I strongly suggest you remove it, before deviantART staff do it for you. If you have work that was not created by you on your page, sooner or later someone will recognise it and report it. You are NOT ALLOWED to submit anything you haven't done yourself and it will be classed as a Copyright Violation.
I've found an image that I think is a copyright violation- What should I do? Every deviation submitted on deviantART has a 'Report Deviation' button below the image and to the right. If you feel you've seen an image before, search for it on the internet and try your best to provide a URL of the original image to add to your report. If you can't find the original, ask your deviantART friends if they have seen it before (maybe one that has been on deviantART for a long time or a Gallery Director/Staff member- but try not to bother people). Failing that, give a long and accurate description of where you think you have seen it before.
Does the Copyright violation include music and literature? Yes. If you have seen a deviantART film with copyrighted music (i.e. music not by the deviant that submitted it), or literature you have read before , it is not allowed on deviantART and will again be classed as a Copyright violation.
What If I want to use an image from deviantART that isn't stock? If you have seen an image you want to use from deviantART that is not categorised as a stock image, you must ask the deviant that owns it. If they say 'Yes', then you may use it. If they say 'No', you may not use it, and if you submit an image without the original owners permission- no matter how small their contribution to your image is, it will be classed as a copyright violation.
If I see a non-stock image being used by someone that has permission, does it mean that I can use it? No. If you see that someone else has permission, you must also seek permission yourself, as the deviant using the original image may be good friends with the original artist. It does not mean the image is available as stock.
To read the full information on DeviantART's copyright policy, please click HERE.

What is Mature content?
Deviations that contain Nudity, Gore, Violence, Strong language or potentially controversial themes touching on religion should all be tagged with mature content. This is to stop young deviants from seeing offensive or upsetting image without prior warning, and also to stop non-members (possibly those younger than the age of 13) seeing images that contains primarily adult content. If you see an image containing anything that could be seen as offensive or adult, it should have a mature content tag added.
The rules are clarified in detail in the FAQ entry: FAQ #220: What is Mature Content?


So What else does deviantART frown upon?
Apart from all of the above, which are rules applied to submitted deviations, deviantART also has a number of other rules to keep the site free from abuse that all deviants are expected to adhere to. Deviants ignoring the other rules are likely to be reported and banned by staff.
To comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), deviants joining the site must be over the age of 13. Children that appear to be lower than 13 will have their accounts suspended until they reach the minimum age of 13 years
Spamming on deviantART is a bannable offense, and those found to be sending the same messages or notes to many people, whether or not they want to read what you have to say, will be banned or suspended. The spamming of offensive images or scams will be treated by staff as malicious, and anyone found to be doing so is likely to be banned permanently.
Linking to offensive material off the website is also a bannable offense, as other websites, for instance those showing pornographic images, cannot be filtered by the deviantART system, so anyone clicking on the link will view whatever offensive material it has to offer.
Aggressive of abusive language is not tolerated here on deviantART. If your language may be construed as offensive or even racist, you may be banned by staff. It is out of order to abuse other members of the deviantART community.
Harassment of deviants is unacceptable and is taken seriously, provided it is not a trivial or 'school yard' dispute. This can include anything from aggressive insults to full blown racist attacks.

If you have witnessed any of the above rules being broken, it is advisable to send a help desk report to the DeviantART Help Desk, but be sure that it is not already covered in the FAQ.

Reporting policy violations is for anybody that feels they can be mature and responsible enough to do so. It should include a lot of the people on the website, so do not think you are small and insignificant!
Now go forth and keep an eye out for work breaking the DeviantART rules.
You can be rest assured as your help will keep DeviantART on the rails.

Important Staff
$spyed- Chief Executive Officer
$lolly- Director of Community Development and Director of the Print Department
$Moonbeam13- Head of Artists Relations
$realitysquared- Director of Copyright and Policy Enforcement
$mccann- Technical Development and Maintenance of deviantART
$chris- Part of the Maintenance team
$micahgoulart- Member of the deviantART IT department
$hexentanz- Help Desk administrator