living in denial

[lagilman]

So, the results of my stance on the "fanfiction: pro or con" panel at Lunacon, and the resulting article in the NJ Star Ledger are beginning to bear fuit. Bitter fruit, at that -- have started getting hate mail.

People, get a clue. When I say that it's illegal, that's because it IS. Really. The courts have so-ruled, and it's been upheld. Argue against copyright. Push the fight to get rid of it, if you really think that's what's Right. For now, it exists. And if the copyright holder does not fight known infringment, they lose the right to claim copyright, which means that can't earn money off thier works. This is called "damaging your own livlihood."


Telling me I shouldn't be looking to make money off my work, because it's depriving you of your 'right' to create fanfic? Let's see you turn that around and hit your own paycheck, child. See how stringent you are about 'freedom' then.

Hell, I love fanfic. I wrote fanfic. I think writing fanfic is a great fannish thing. But keep it lo-key. Allow the official copyright holders to not see it. Don't trumpet yourself where they have no choice but to take note, especially the one-owner material (as opposed to media work, where there's more room to argue against the 'reasonable confusion in the market."). But remember that it's against established law, so when you're told to stop, you have to stop or face consequences. Why are you bitching at me for pointing that out?


Oh. And telling (threatening) me that you're not going to buy any of my books from now on? Hey, that's your consumer's privilege. I'm not about to cower in my shoes and stop speaking truth in public because of it.


But stop to think about what could happen, in a world where writers, and musicians, and actors don't get royalties from their work, and their income drops even closer to nil. You think you're still going to be getting these stories and shows you form fandoms around? Good luck.

Comments

[dancingwriter.livejournal.com]

Sorry about the hate mail. Fan fiction seems to be such a thorny issue. I certainly understand the impulse behind it--wanting more stories about the fandom you love, wanting to be part of it. But I don't understand the lack of respect many fic writers seem to have for the creators of these fandoms--not only in terms of not caring about copyright infringement but also in terms of messing with the author's characterizations and the like. (I have more sympathy, though, for the whole Mary Sue phenomenon, so long as it's not a canon character being turned into a Mary Sue.) Thanks to the Internet, though, the old genie's out of the bottle. People are going to keep writing fanfic (not really a problem, as you even said) and publishing it--which is where the trouble lies. The days of keeping it low-key and just passing copies of stories around to one's friends seem to be over. But that doesn't change the fact that copyright infringement is illegal. It seems to me that you are doing a service to fanfic writers by letting them know this, so that they can make informed choices about their actions. I'm not surprised that a lot of people don't like hearing this, though.

Sorry for the rambling comment. I thought I was more awake than I am. Getting more coffee now.