...and the FanLib saga continues....
May. 28th, 2007 10:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lyl_devilThis is my continuation of this post, where I talked about FanLib and my sudden, knee-jerk reaction to a company trying to make money off fanfiction, without even the slightest idea of the community they were trying to exploit. So far, this has mostly been an LJ thing, with varying 'outside' blog coverage - mostly because of the social networking environment of LJ and the amount of fanfiction that gets posted here. But, others are taking notice.
For those who didn't see the second ETA, I posted a link to Henry Jenkins' blog, where he wrote about the FanLib controversy here. In it, he invited Chris Williams (one of the founders of FanLib) to open a dialogue and answer some questions and concerns the fannish community had about the site, it's rigid Terms of Service and it's vague FAQ. CW accepted, thus throwing another stick of dynamite onto the bonfire that is his current PR nightmare (he still doesn't see why the fans are questioning his actions when he ignores multiple, polite, intelligent requests to answer question from 'female' fans, yet jumps immediately at the first request from a 'male' that is partially in the community).
Well, ladies and gentlemen, CW's answers are here. I'll admit I skimmed over a lot of the answers, mainly because I can only take so much marketing bullshit before my eyes glaze over and I find myself in a semi-coma. His answers glossed over the points behind most of the questions, while repeatedly claiming that they've re-written their TOS and FAQ (which no one is really all that impressed with). In fact, this whole thing has just made people even more angry and upset about it.
Especially the copyright issues. While they might be media partners with several production companies, that doesn't hold true for all of them - only a small handful, and only television. Movies, books and comics all have fanfiction communities, yet the copyright holders are not involved in this site at all. This is seriously just a lawsuit waiting to happen, because while your L-word and Ghost Whisperer fiction (might) be safe, your Harry Potter - especially of the adult variety - and your Star Wars are not. In fact, they will be thrust further into the spotlight, where nobody really wants them. Why? Because JK Rowling (who already has a problem with adult HP fic), can easily come along, send her highly paid lawyers after FanLib who will gladly capitulate and hand over your user info. Presto-chango and you have your first fanfic copyright lawsuit, all helpfully cultivated by FanLib - all while FanLib helpfully watches the money roll in (or trickle in, whatever).
Some authors (published, non-LJ) have weighed in on this, and it's with an opinion that we all sort of knew but never acknowledged:
They'll turn a blind eye to fanfiction, because they know it keeps the fans interested and loyal. But the instant someone starts making money off the fans, their fiction or the author's characters, they suddenly have eagle eyed vision.
As someone said in the comments to the second HJ blog entry:
I was taught as follows, even in the late 1990s:
The first rule of fanfic is "We make no money."
The second rule of fanfic is "We stay away from the media talent." (ie. the writers, authors, creators, producers)
(The second rule is for their protection as much as ours. Most authors, if they see fanfic, are often legally obligated to sic the lawyers on you. Plus, it also prevents them from accidentally using your idea, thus leaving themselves open for lawsuits.)
John Scalzi weighs in twice on fanfiction, FanLib and his work: @ficlets.com and @scalzi.com
I think this is the way many published authors feel - either that, or they absolutely detest anyone messing with their characters/universes (Anne Rice, I'm looking at you!).
There's also a post over at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
fandom_lawyers going into the specifics of FanLib's (original) TOS here, if anyone's interested.
My amusing link of the post:
Lizbee has written a fanfic based on the annoying tiny!nerd/big!buff ad that's been seen all over FanLib and has gotten scathing hate from fandom at large.
In contrast to all this, it seems to have motivated fandom to set up something on their own.fanarchive - The Archive of Our Own Project has been started up, and are always taking volunteers and brainstormers. The idea is to make our own version of FanLib-a-la-ff.net, but without the exploitation of FanLib or the suckiness of ff.net. I would be involved but I don't have the attention span or the energy.
Unless something major happens, I probably won't talk about this again (because 3 posts = subject tag). I'm tired of reading wank - this is the 3rd wank in less than 2 weeks, and I'm done. DONE! However, if you want to keep up on FanLib and the bruha surrounding it, I suggestmetafandom - the majority of posts there revolve around FanLib.
For those who didn't see the second ETA, I posted a link to Henry Jenkins' blog, where he wrote about the FanLib controversy here. In it, he invited Chris Williams (one of the founders of FanLib) to open a dialogue and answer some questions and concerns the fannish community had about the site, it's rigid Terms of Service and it's vague FAQ. CW accepted, thus throwing another stick of dynamite onto the bonfire that is his current PR nightmare (he still doesn't see why the fans are questioning his actions when he ignores multiple, polite, intelligent requests to answer question from 'female' fans, yet jumps immediately at the first request from a 'male' that is partially in the community).
Well, ladies and gentlemen, CW's answers are here. I'll admit I skimmed over a lot of the answers, mainly because I can only take so much marketing bullshit before my eyes glaze over and I find myself in a semi-coma. His answers glossed over the points behind most of the questions, while repeatedly claiming that they've re-written their TOS and FAQ (which no one is really all that impressed with). In fact, this whole thing has just made people even more angry and upset about it.
Especially the copyright issues. While they might be media partners with several production companies, that doesn't hold true for all of them - only a small handful, and only television. Movies, books and comics all have fanfiction communities, yet the copyright holders are not involved in this site at all. This is seriously just a lawsuit waiting to happen, because while your L-word and Ghost Whisperer fiction (might) be safe, your Harry Potter - especially of the adult variety - and your Star Wars are not. In fact, they will be thrust further into the spotlight, where nobody really wants them. Why? Because JK Rowling (who already has a problem with adult HP fic), can easily come along, send her highly paid lawyers after FanLib who will gladly capitulate and hand over your user info. Presto-chango and you have your first fanfic copyright lawsuit, all helpfully cultivated by FanLib - all while FanLib helpfully watches the money roll in (or trickle in, whatever).
Some authors (published, non-LJ) have weighed in on this, and it's with an opinion that we all sort of knew but never acknowledged:
They'll turn a blind eye to fanfiction, because they know it keeps the fans interested and loyal. But the instant someone starts making money off the fans, their fiction or the author's characters, they suddenly have eagle eyed vision.
As someone said in the comments to the second HJ blog entry:
I was taught as follows, even in the late 1990s:
The first rule of fanfic is "We make no money."
The second rule of fanfic is "We stay away from the media talent." (ie. the writers, authors, creators, producers)
(The second rule is for their protection as much as ours. Most authors, if they see fanfic, are often legally obligated to sic the lawyers on you. Plus, it also prevents them from accidentally using your idea, thus leaving themselves open for lawsuits.)
John Scalzi weighs in twice on fanfiction, FanLib and his work: @ficlets.com and @scalzi.com
I think this is the way many published authors feel - either that, or they absolutely detest anyone messing with their characters/universes (Anne Rice, I'm looking at you!).
There's also a post over at
fandom_lawyers going into the specifics of FanLib's (original) TOS here, if anyone's interested.My amusing link of the post:
Lizbee has written a fanfic based on the annoying tiny!nerd/big!buff ad that's been seen all over FanLib and has gotten scathing hate from fandom at large.
In contrast to all this, it seems to have motivated fandom to set up something on their own.
fanarchive - The Archive of Our Own Project has been started up, and are always taking volunteers and brainstormers. The idea is to make our own version of FanLib-a-la-ff.net, but without the exploitation of FanLib or the suckiness of ff.net. I would be involved but I don't have the attention span or the energy.Unless something major happens, I probably won't talk about this again (because 3 posts = subject tag). I'm tired of reading wank - this is the 3rd wank in less than 2 weeks, and I'm done. DONE! However, if you want to keep up on FanLib and the bruha surrounding it, I suggest
metafandom - the majority of posts there revolve around FanLib.