That Torchwood Book
You know, the one that got everybody talking? Well, I came back from a long weekend vacation and found that I'm one of the people quoted in the book.
I'm quite flattered that the author thought my work (supposedly reviews, although I haven't seen the book and have no idea of what was published) was of high enough quality to use. I am annoyed that said author didn't give me a heads-up first. Not because of copyright issues or whatnot (more coming), but because it would have been nice to know. I didn't even know this book existed--would have been cheep cheep publicity for the author, for one, and I could have bandied it about.
I don't want any part of the wankstorm that followed, and I might email the author just to see what was quoted. Will I buy the book? Probably not, not for 13 pounds sterling. But hey, I'm a little person all on my own and I'm enough of a rock star in the TW fandom to get noticed, and noticed big-time. I'm full of myself (and a few other things beside) a lot, but you gotta admit, that's kind of cool.
Which brings me to the following:
I have no problem whatsoever with people quoting my work provided that all of the following conditions are met:
1. You clearly state that whatever you have posted is my work, and credit my name (antelope_writes). For those of you that know it, please do not use my real name or the name of my non-fic blog.
2. You provide a link to the post in question, so that whoever reads the quote may find the whole post should they so choose. I realize that this is not possible in a dead-tree medium. People doing stuff in dead-tree, please include a URL to my journal in the footnotes or endnotes as appropriate.
3. You notify me when you make the quote. Email, comment in the blog, etc, are all acceptable. It's not a question of me giving you permission--you have it--but you know, folks have interesting stuff to say, and I'd like to hear it. Also, it's very flattering and it strokes my ego. So there.
For the record, this is not the first time I have posted this.
Also for the record: any educators reading this blog, whether you be writing instructors or drama instructors (who popped up from all over the place with the body language metas) or whatnot, you may use any of my work in your classes for educational purposes provided the following conditions are met:
1. You obtain my written permission beforehand, telling me what you're going to use it for. I count asking me in an LJ comment and me saying fine as written permission.
2. You don't use my work for profit.
3. You use the works in a fair, reasonable way. E.g. do not read the Tosh/Tommy meta and use it to point out that blah-blah-blah fill-in-the-blank is against the teachings of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and therefore anybody who does that must be smote down with His Noodly Appendage. Please honour the intent as well as the content.
3a. Some of my earlier fic is bad!fic. I don't care if you use it as an example of bad!fic (spork away!), but again, please be fair and reasonable.
Honestly? Unless you're doing major violations of 2, 3, and 3a, I will say yes.
I think this whole thing started out as a tempest in a teapot, and I hope it dies down soon. I don't think the author did anything wrong, even if what he did was poorly thought-out and could have been handled better. I also don't think the fans who did have a problem with their work being used are necessarily wrong--it is, after all, their work, and they are the only ones who can give their opinions.
I'm quite flattered that the author thought my work (supposedly reviews, although I haven't seen the book and have no idea of what was published) was of high enough quality to use. I am annoyed that said author didn't give me a heads-up first. Not because of copyright issues or whatnot (more coming), but because it would have been nice to know. I didn't even know this book existed--would have been cheep cheep publicity for the author, for one, and I could have bandied it about.
I don't want any part of the wankstorm that followed, and I might email the author just to see what was quoted. Will I buy the book? Probably not, not for 13 pounds sterling. But hey, I'm a little person all on my own and I'm enough of a rock star in the TW fandom to get noticed, and noticed big-time. I'm full of myself (and a few other things beside) a lot, but you gotta admit, that's kind of cool.
Which brings me to the following:
I have no problem whatsoever with people quoting my work provided that all of the following conditions are met:
1. You clearly state that whatever you have posted is my work, and credit my name (antelope_writes). For those of you that know it, please do not use my real name or the name of my non-fic blog.
2. You provide a link to the post in question, so that whoever reads the quote may find the whole post should they so choose. I realize that this is not possible in a dead-tree medium. People doing stuff in dead-tree, please include a URL to my journal in the footnotes or endnotes as appropriate.
3. You notify me when you make the quote. Email, comment in the blog, etc, are all acceptable. It's not a question of me giving you permission--you have it--but you know, folks have interesting stuff to say, and I'd like to hear it. Also, it's very flattering and it strokes my ego. So there.
For the record, this is not the first time I have posted this.
Also for the record: any educators reading this blog, whether you be writing instructors or drama instructors (who popped up from all over the place with the body language metas) or whatnot, you may use any of my work in your classes for educational purposes provided the following conditions are met:
1. You obtain my written permission beforehand, telling me what you're going to use it for. I count asking me in an LJ comment and me saying fine as written permission.
2. You don't use my work for profit.
3. You use the works in a fair, reasonable way. E.g. do not read the Tosh/Tommy meta and use it to point out that blah-blah-blah fill-in-the-blank is against the teachings of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and therefore anybody who does that must be smote down with His Noodly Appendage. Please honour the intent as well as the content.
3a. Some of my earlier fic is bad!fic. I don't care if you use it as an example of bad!fic (spork away!), but again, please be fair and reasonable.
Honestly? Unless you're doing major violations of 2, 3, and 3a, I will say yes.
I think this whole thing started out as a tempest in a teapot, and I hope it dies down soon. I don't think the author did anything wrong, even if what he did was poorly thought-out and could have been handled better. I also don't think the fans who did have a problem with their work being used are necessarily wrong--it is, after all, their work, and they are the only ones who can give their opinions.