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

[lagilman]

The article was edited for space, as all newspaper articles are - I was on the phone with the reporter for over an hour, and many of my comments which bridged the space form "I wrote fic" to "I can't support it any longer" were cut. That...annoyed me.

That said, I DO believe that, for most people, writing fanfic is something they move on from. Either the fandom begins to bore or annoy them, and they don't find something else to refill the well, or they discover (as I did) theat they just don't have the time/energy to give to it.

It's not a dissing, just an observation, and one I stand behind (especially when confronted by what appear to be legions of teenage fic-writers posting everywhere).

That said, it has nothing to do with my comments about the legality thereof, which is what I was being attacked for.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

it has nothing to do with my comments about the legality thereof, which is what I was being attacked for.

It was the "move on" stuff that I saw creating a lot of angst on fan sites, and it just didn't sound like you. Knowing that the bridge existed and was cut does.

The legality - no arguments there. I remember when C&Ds went out to fan writers, something the netficcers seem to not think ever happened.

I'm sorry you're getting hate mail. Not surprised, considering some of the crap that flys every time some people (in and out of fandom) don't get exactly what they want - but very sorry that it's your turn in the barrel for saying the truth.

[lagilman]

Oh, I knew when I went on that damned panel that I was going to take flak -- nothing people hate more than someone who has stopped doing the thing they still love (be it ficcing, or smoking, or whathaveyou.) Hey, I feel that way about people who give me grief about still going to conventions.

I really dislike people calling me a moron, and trying to threaten me, becuse I told them something they didn't want to hear, however. Especially when I never said 'don't do it." I said "it's illegal" and "don't tell me anything I might have to act on."

(In fact, during the panel I was the one one covering my ears and humming loudly when they did talk about Certain Fic, because if I heard something I would be professionally obligated to pass it along. Got a laugh, even if the person doing the talking was peeved at me -- jesus, woman, I was protecting you!)

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

I said "it's illegal" and "don't tell me anything I might have to act on."

I suspect this is the real reason a lot of shows these days (Farscape, for instance) tell their fans that the actors have all signed something contractual saying they can't read fanfic "because they're all writers and directors and so on with their own projects, and might accidentally infringe on the ideas, so please protect them by not showing them any". Because, really, no one makes you turn in your library card when you become a writer or director of independent projects. What that really seems designed to protect is fans - a "we've come up with an excuse not to be aware of your copyright infringement, so please play along and no one gets hurt" clause.

[lagilman]

Bingo.


They/we don't go looking, we/you don't go showing, everyone's as well-protected as can reasonably be.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I really dislike people calling me a moron, and trying to threaten me, becuse I told them something they didn't want to hear, however

Who wouldn't? I am sorry that you're going through that, even though it's as predictable as the flowers of the spring. Tell someone something they don't want to hear and watch them Swift Boat you because you can't just be wrong according to them, you have to be defective somehow so that they can more easily dismiss you... the more so if you're right.

[marinarusalka.livejournal.com]

That said, I DO believe that, for most people, writing fanfic is something they move on from. Either the fandom begins to bore or annoy them, and they don't find something else to refill the well, or they discover (as I did) theat they just don't have the time/energy to give to it.

Hmm. My observation has been exactly the opposite -- the vast majority of the fanfic writers I encountered when I was first discovering fandom in the early 90s are still writing it (though usually not in the same fandoms). And many of them have been around for years before I came along, too.

The people most likely to move on are those who viewed fanfic as a learning step on the way to becoming pro writers. Which makes sense, because a learning step is something you're supposed to outgrow, otherwise it's not fulfilling it's function. (And, of course, if they successfully switch to professional fiction, you're that much more likely to encounter them, so from your perspective it would look like most fanfic writers are moving on.) But I don't think the people who view fanfic as an end to itself and do is at a hobby are any more likely to outgrow it than the people who macrame for a hobby.

This might be changing with the explosion of on-line fandom, and the huge number of kids and teenagers getting involved through forums like fanfiction.net. I think a lot of these kids are writing fic neither as a learning step nor as a hobby, but as a social activity, and people are far more likely to outgrow social activities than hobbies.