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Fanlib
This worries me greatly. Not this organisation in particular, but the change in mentality it represents, the attempt to comercialise fanfic.
This bit in particular gives me the heebies:
Notwithstanding the foregoing, FanLib reserves the right at all times to disclose any information as FanLib deems necessary to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request, or to edit, refuse to post or to remove any information or materials, in whole or in part, in FanLib's sole discretion...
However, by submitting the Submissions to FanLib, You hereby grant FanLib a non-exclusive, worldwide, and royalty-free license to use, reproduce, distribute, and display the Submissions in connection with the Website.
There is a very good, very detailed post about it here.
The way I see it, if fanfic ever becomes a source of income, the Big Boys will be on it like a ton of bricks, a ship-load of legality will suddenly appear; there will be sound, financial reasons to stamp on amateur fanfic and fandom as we know it will wither and perish.
I say, treat it like it's made of Ebola - stay away. If no one goes there, it will die.
(I'm no fool, I recognise that things are about to change and there's probably litle we can do to stop it, but we can take some control; the slope should be slippiest at our end, not theirs.)
This worries me greatly. Not this organisation in particular, but the change in mentality it represents, the attempt to comercialise fanfic.
This bit in particular gives me the heebies:
Notwithstanding the foregoing, FanLib reserves the right at all times to disclose any information as FanLib deems necessary to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request, or to edit, refuse to post or to remove any information or materials, in whole or in part, in FanLib's sole discretion...
However, by submitting the Submissions to FanLib, You hereby grant FanLib a non-exclusive, worldwide, and royalty-free license to use, reproduce, distribute, and display the Submissions in connection with the Website.
There is a very good, very detailed post about it here.
The way I see it, if fanfic ever becomes a source of income, the Big Boys will be on it like a ton of bricks, a ship-load of legality will suddenly appear; there will be sound, financial reasons to stamp on amateur fanfic and fandom as we know it will wither and perish.
I say, treat it like it's made of Ebola - stay away. If no one goes there, it will die.
(I'm no fool, I recognise that things are about to change and there's probably litle we can do to stop it, but we can take some control; the slope should be slippiest at our end, not theirs.)
worried
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Talk about lighting the blue touch paper and retiring... Thanks for the heads uyp - not going near it with a barge pole!
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(aka Fingers)
http://leegoldberg.typepad.com/
He's virently(sp) anti fanfic 'cause its illegal and all published writers should hate it and send cease and desist orders....
Re: (aka Fingers)
But I just got an email - a new agency wants to see my new novel! ::is too happy to be angry at anyone right now::
Re: (aka Fingers)
fingers crossed!
Re: (aka Fingers)
Better go and do some work... I've got a submission to prep!
Re: (aka Fingers)
Re: (aka Fingers)
'1 page with a few lines on the five most recent competing and comparable books giving author, title, publisher and date of publication together with a note on how the books relate to the author's own book.'
Heck... I don't know!
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My worry is that the gullible will get dragged into this, thinking they're going to make a profit from their writing. They won't - someone will, but it won't be the writer (ime it never bloody well is ::G::) and in the process, damage fandom in general.
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I remember thinking at the time, "If this is how she makes her living, she must be either very talented, popular and rich or living in poverty."
I don't know what a zine is exactly, have never seen one in person and don't know what they look like, how they're made, how much they cost, how the whole thing works.
But from what little I understand about them, aren't fanfic writers who put their stories in so-called zine forms and sell them making money? Very little profit, I'm sure, but still, money is money, isn't it?
I'm NOT accusing anyone or implying anything negative about zines. I'm just curious cuz I really didn't know anything about this zine stuff until recently, and just about every fanfic I read has a disclaimer saying "The characters belong to blah, blah, blah... and I'm not making a dime off this blah, blah, blah."
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"I remember thinking at the time, "If this is how she makes her living, she must be either very talented, popular and rich or living in poverty."
I'm confused by what you mean - no one makes a 'living' out of fanfic, it's done purely for the pleasure of doing it and being part of a fandom community. I write for a living, I also write fanfic; one is my job, the other my hobby - they're mutually exclusive.
"But from what little I understand about them, aren't fanfic writers who put their stories in so-called zine forms and sell them making money? Very little profit, I'm sure, but still, money is money, isn't it?"
No, it's not. See above.
Reading between the lines, I can't help but wonder what your interest in all this is, posting anonymously and all? Your ip# says you're in Korea - proxy server, is it?
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But even if publishers are *maybe* making some money, the writers aren't - I don;t see how the writers ever will; certainly not through this organisation which makes me ask, why bother with it, when it has the potential to do so much damage?
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I'm 99.999% certain that people who produce zines don't make much, if any, money from what they do. I'm 100% certain the writers don't gain anything monetarily from zines.
I'll be honest, I came into fandom in the internet age and have never really seen the point of zines. I do understand that some people like to have a nicely printed, illustrated version of fic, but in the age of the net, when there's so much fic available for free at the click of a button... It's just not for me, but I know there's still a huge market for zines, my only worry is, if people are making a profit, no matter how small, it becomes legally grey and has implications for fandom as a whole.
There's a strong code of honour in fandom as a whole, it seems to me - though a few idiots occassioanally queer the pitch. It's specifically because of that - the 'amateur' aspect of fanfic - that makes me worry about attempts to commercialise it. I do think it's a dangerously slippy slope.
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I miss zines in the sense that I do not really enjoy reading fic online -- I spend so much time at a terminal as it is! -- and when I first got into online fandom, I was on a university connection that timed out after a couple of hours (wow, that sounds prehistoric, doesn't it? For some reason undergrads got unlimited time but grad students got one hour peak time and another non-peak.) -- so I used to print out fic anyway. Then it occurred to me how many trees I was killing, so I stopped, but as a result I do read less fic now.
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Beats me. I'm just staying the hell away and i hope other writers do, too.
I'll tell you one thing they are thinking
I don't write much fanfic but I would strongly urge writers to stay away.
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fanlib
I'm Chris one of the founders of FanLib> it's really late and i have been working on the site all day. I'm exhausted but i just realized what was going on here and all of the commentsts are making me sick. we're a small company with 10 emplyees who work 16 hours a day to try and make a great website. we're real people! with feelings and everything! we have been working on this and dreaming about it for a long time and you are just here to shit on it without giving us a chance. i care deeply about what you think but this is crazy. we're good people here and you make us sound like we're an evil corporation or the govt. sending your kids to war or something. we really are all about celebrating fan fiction and fan fiction readers and writers. im sorry this is so short and please excuse the fact that i am cutting and pasting this across a bunch of ljs but i gotta get some sleep.
chris
Re: fanlib
I read your fAC, but it hasn't ansewered some of the most fundamental concerns. I'm sure you'll be hearing a lot more from people in the next few days - maybe you could answer those very real concerns.
Actually, let me qualify...
That's not what I'm reading about you and your company.
"we have been working on this and dreaming about it for a long time "
Since 2003, under a variety of company names, apparently.
"you are just here to shit on it without giving us a chance."
Hey fandom people have a way above average IQ (it's a fact, check it out) and we know something bad when we see it.
"we really are all about celebrating fan fiction and fan fiction readers and writers."
No, you are all about *profiting* from fan fiction and its readers and potentially damaging fandom in the process.
"please excuse the fact that i am cutting and pasting this across a bunch of ljs..."
Interestingly, I've just done a search and can't find a single other post from you on *any* of the most active, animated and informed discussions; this is the only one I've found.
Re: Actually, let me qualify...
Re: Actually, let me qualify...
Seems they really don't know much about fandom, period.
Thanks for the heads-up.
Re: Actually, let me qualify...
Re: Actually, let me qualify...
one more thing
http://www.fanlib.com/cms.do?page=faq.html
Re: one more thing
In my particular fandom, we already have a very well-known, well-organised and active network for distributing and publicising fic. Why do we need you to come in and make this a commercial exercise with the massive potential for damage that entails?
What is he afraid of?
Good people, the reason for this is that mimbo, aka Chris, aka has been going about, deleting his messages from threads.
But you can still read the responses to his messages here:
http://cofax7.livejournal.com/446806.html#comments
and here:
http://telesilla.livejournal.com/553920.html?thread=4406464#t4406464
and here:
http://angiepen.livejournal.com/38593.html#comments
Thanks to darkrosetiger and neotoma for the information. Any further examples will be received with gratitude. (o:
Re: What is he afraid of?
Re: What is he afraid of?