The AO3 Shutdown Is Pitting Fanfic Readers Against Authors

Archive of Our Own (AO3), a major fan-fiction site, went offline on 29 October after a security incident and may remain unavailable for up to four weeks. Readers have responded by sharing saved stories through Google Drive libraries and other sites, but some authors object that their work is being reposted without permission, raising concerns about security, privacy and AI scraping.

AO3 hosts more than 18.8 million works across hundreds of thousands of fandoms. Some authors say they welcome readers sharing copies privately but oppose large, public libraries; others have faced criticism for documenting where stories are circulating. One archive project was hacked and became inaccessible, while authors and readers have argued publicly over access, consent and the norms of fan communities.