Official Fan Club Community Guidelines

Last Updated: July 16, 2026

Welcome to the Official Lord of the Rings Fan Club.

This community exists for one simple reason: to give fans a welcoming place to celebrate The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and the wider world of Middle-earth together.

Everyone is welcome, as long as they welcome everyone.

These Community Guidelines explain the conduct standards for participating in the Official Lord of the Rings Fan Club. They should be read together with the Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and any additional rules that apply to specific events, giveaways, rewards, beta tests, or features. If these Community Guidelines conflict with the Terms of Service, the Terms of Service control.

That means new fans, lifelong readers, film fans, gamers, collectors, cosplayers, artists, lore experts, casual fans, creators, and people who just discovered Middle-earth for the first time all have the same standing here.

No one is above anyone else because of how long they have been a fan, how much they know, how many followers they have, what they collect, what they create, or how they came to love this world.

This is not a free-speech platform. It is a moderated fan community. By joining, posting, commenting, participating in events, joining a Fellowship, entering giveaways, or using any fan club feature, you agree to follow these Community Guidelines, the Terms of Service, and any additional rules that apply to specific fan club features, events, giveaways, rewards, or beta tests.

The Standard

Be kind. Be respectful. Be welcoming.

Act like you are sharing space with real people, because you are.

You do not have to agree with everyone. You do not have to like every book, film, show, game, collectible, opinion, theory, or interpretation. Healthy disagreement is part of fandom.

But how you disagree matters.

If your behavior makes this community less welcoming, less safe, or less enjoyable for others, we may remove your content, limit your access, or remove you from the fan club entirely.

What Is Not Allowed

The following behavior is not allowed in the Official Lord of the Rings Fan Club.

Harassment, Bullying, or Intimidation

This includes targeting another person or group with insults, threats, mockery, repeated unwanted contact, dogpiling, humiliation, or attempts to make them feel unsafe or unwelcome.

Hate or Discriminatory Behavior

We do not allow hate speech, slurs, demeaning language, coded attacks, exclusionary behavior, or hostile treatment based on race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, body type, veteran status, or any other protected or personal characteristic.

Personal Attacks

Critique ideas, not people. Do not attack someone's intelligence, appearance, identity, background, fandom status, work, family, or personal life.

Gatekeeping

No one here gets to decide who is or is not a "real fan."

Do not shame people for being new, not knowing something, liking a different version of the story, enjoying a different part of the fandom, or participating differently than you do.

Trolling or Bad-Faith Behavior

Do not join conversations just to provoke people, derail discussions, start fights, bait reactions, spread hostility, or make the space worse for others.

Threats or Encouragement of Harm

Threats of violence, encouragement of self-harm, doxxing, stalking, or encouraging harm against any person or group will not be tolerated.

Sexual Harassment or Inappropriate Sexual Content

Do not make unwanted sexual comments, send explicit messages, post sexualized content involving real people, or make anyone feel uncomfortable through sexual attention or language.

Spam, Scams, Bots, and Manipulation

Do not use the fan club to spam, scam, impersonate others, manipulate contests, automate fake activity, create bot accounts, scrape member information, or interfere with the normal operation of the community. This is not a place to advertise or campaign: no unsolicited promotions, political campaigning, multi-level marketing (MLM), affiliate or recruitment pitches, or soliciting members to buy, sell, vote, support, donate, or join outside ventures. Official merchant offers come only through the club itself.

Impersonation or Misrepresentation

Do not pretend to be another fan, creator, staff member, public figure, company representative, partner, or official account.

Do not misrepresent your affiliation with Middle-earth Enterprises, Fellowship Entertainment, LOTR.com, The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, or any related partner.

Sharing Private Information

Do not post or share another person's private information, including addresses, phone numbers, private messages, personal photos, employment information, travel plans, or anything that could be used to identify, locate, embarrass, or harm them.

Illegal or Unsafe Activity

Do not use the community to promote illegal activity, dangerous behavior, unauthorized access, piracy, fraud, or anything that puts people, property, systems, or events at risk.

Unlicensed, Counterfeit, or Grey-Market Goods

Do not use the community to promote, advertise, sell, buy, trade, solicit, or link to unlicensed, counterfeit, bootleg, replica, or otherwise infringing merchandise, media, or collectibles connected to The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Middle-earth, or any related property. This includes fan-made or unofficial goods offered for sale without authorization, and any support, endorsement, or promotion of third-party sellers, resellers, or grey-market channels that deal in unlicensed, unauthorized, or unofficial products. Only officially licensed merchants and the offers presented through the club are permitted.

Abuse of Events, Giveaways, or Rewards

Do not cheat, exploit, manipulate, or interfere with fan club events, Fellowships, challenges, giveaways, rewards, entries, QR codes, Mathoms, or other participation systems.

Respect the Community

This fan club is being built to bring people together online and in person. That only works if members treat each other with care.

Please do:

• Welcome new fans
• Assume good faith when you can
• Disagree without attacking
• Keep conversations appropriate for a broad fan community
• Respect personal boundaries
• Let people enjoy things differently than you do
• Report behavior that makes the community unsafe or unwelcome

Please do not:

• Pile on
• Mock people for what they know or do not know
• Turn every disagreement into a fight
• Drag outside conflicts into the community
• Use the fan club to build clout at someone else's expense
• Treat other members like an audience to dominate
• Make the space about yourself instead of the shared community

Public and Private Behavior

These guidelines apply anywhere you interact through the fan club, including profiles, comments, posts, messages, events, Fellowships, challenges, giveaways, QR-based activities, and in-person fan club programs.

Behavior outside the fan club may also be considered if it affects the safety, trust, or integrity of this community, our members, our events, or our partners.

Moderation and Removal

Membership in the Official Lord of the Rings Fan Club is a privilege, not a right.

We may remove content, deny participation, suspend access, or permanently remove a member if we determine that their behavior violates these Community Guidelines, violates the Terms of Service, harms the community, creates risk for other members, disrupts fan club activities, or conflicts with the purpose of the fan club, subject to the Terms of Service and applicable law.

We are not required to provide warnings before taking action, except where required by the Terms of Service or applicable law.

We do not use timeouts as a standard community tool. Our expectation is simple: participate in good faith and treat people well. If someone shows they are not willing to do that, they may be removed.

Depending on the situation, removal may apply to the fan club, events, giveaways, Fellowships, rewards, profiles, commenting, messaging, or any other related feature or experience.

Subject to the Terms of Service and applicable law, decisions about moderation, access, participation, and removal belong to the fan club team.

No One Is Above the Rules

These guidelines apply equally to everyone.

That includes new members, longtime fans, creators, influencers, community leaders, partners, guests, staff, and anyone else participating in the fan club.

A large audience, public profile, professional relationship, long history in the fandom, or past contribution to the community does not exempt anyone from these expectations.

For Heralds and Community Partners

A Herald is a community - a website, blog, channel, group, podcast, or creator - that partners with the Official Lord of the Rings Fan Club to welcome more fans into it. Being a Herald is a privilege built on trust, and it carries the same responsibilities as membership, plus a few more.

If you run a Herald presence, you agree to:

• Follow these Community Guidelines in everything you do through the fan club, and hold the community you run to the same welcoming standard.
• Promote the same kind of community we do - kind, respectful, inclusive, and welcoming to every fan - both here and in the spaces you lead.
• Represent the fan club honestly, and never imply an official status, endorsement, or affiliation you have not been granted.
• Keep any features you unlock - such as your own community space - safe, on-topic, and within these guidelines.

Your conduct outside the fan club matters too. If a Herald, or the community, site, or channel it represents, promotes or engages in behavior that conflicts with these Community Guidelines or the Terms of Service - including harassment, hate, discrimination, scams, illegal activity, or anything that undermines a safe and welcoming fandom - we may revoke Herald features, Herald standing, or Herald status, subject to the Terms of Service and applicable law.

Herald status and any features it unlocks are granted at the fan club’s discretion and can be adjusted or removed in accordance with these Community Guidelines, the Terms of Service, and applicable law. Standing is earned by supporting the club and its community, and it is kept by continuing to do so.

Reporting Concerns

If you see behavior that violates these guidelines or makes the fan club feel unsafe or unwelcome, please report it through the tools provided on LOTR.com or contact the fan club team.

Reports should be made in good faith. Do not use reporting tools to harass others, settle personal disputes, silence disagreement, or manipulate moderation.

Our Goal

The goal is not to make everyone agree.

The goal is to make sure people can gather here without being mocked, attacked, excluded, harassed, or made to feel like they do not belong.

Middle-earth has always meant many things to many people. This fan club is here to celebrate that.

Everyone is welcome, as long as they welcome everyone.