Rules and Regulations

(and general ettiquette)

Local laws and rules of the venue apply
Masks are not required but are recommended. Con-goers must be vaccinated unless unable.
Be respectful to your fellow con-goers and absolutely be respectful of the staff and workers.

Queerphobia, transphobia, racism, ableism and other discrimination will not be tolerated.
Do not hug, grab or photograph other con-goers without consent, not only as a matter of respect and for the sake of their privacy, but also because there may be minors present.
Please do not start any fistfights.
Seriously, no more fistfights.

Traditional or digital art, realism or abstract, charcoal, painting, anything that you’ve created as art, is art.
Animation (3D and 2D), writing, sculpture, pottery, music and video are also forms of art.
Practical arts, such as embroidery, knitting and woodcarving, are also welcomed.
Cosplay is also allowed, and we would like to remind everyone that cosplay does not equal consent. Treat cosplayers with respect as you should any other con-goer, as they ARE other con-goers. Do not hug or photograph cosplayers without receiving their consent.

Plagiarism, passing other people’s art off as your own and tracing directly from other people are not forms of art. These acts of theft are not allowed at hartcon.

Referencing, parody, and collage are not the same as tracing. We have presentations explaining the difference between, as well as the harms of plagiarism and why it is not allowed at hartcon.

Do not, under any circumstances short of explicit consent, photograph other people’s art and post it on your own social media (especially without credit).
Generative AI “art” is also not a form of art. Generative AI is typically, if not always, trained on actual artist’s work.
Do NOT snitch on, or ridicule, fan artists. Fan art is also art.

Artistic depictions of nudity do not count as sexual content, and are not against our policies, as such things can generally be seen by walking into any traditional art museum.
This is also a warning to any theoretically-scandalised parents that we are not any more liable to legal repercussions than any art museum would be for this particular matter.

Exposure is not a form of payment. If you commission an artist, you have to pay them. I don’t know why we have to tell people not to con artists out of money. It's an art convention, not con art. Nobody is important or “famous” enough to be above paying for an artist’s time and hard work.
hartcon is not a competition. The purpose is not to compare anyone’s art to anyone else’s art. Elitism and judgement defeats the entire purpose of hartcon.
Constructive criticism is allowed, if the artist asks for it. hartcon is not a critique, it is a convention. Have some decency and respect for other artists, and their time and passion.