I've been making occasionally bitchy comments on Twitter, but I'm feeling the need to talk in a bit more depth about this whole Fifty Shades of Gray debacle
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I am of two minds. On the one hand, I am sort of saddened and horrified that our society is in a place where shitty Twilight fanfic can end up on the NYT bestseller list. I mean, OMG WTF. Not that fanfic has to be bad--there are a lot of truly amazing fanfic writers out there, but THAT shit is just not great. And the fact that apparently the demand for the shitty stuff is SO high just kind of makes me weep for humanity. (But then again, the original Twilight books are appallingly bad, and look how successful they were, so fuck it, I guess, we're all doomed.) Also, everyone buying these knockoffs is doubly dumb, because you can find that crap for free EVERYWHERE. And it is beyond depressing to think thing legit publishers might start trawling through the Pit of Voles looking for more shitty Twilight knockoffs to bestow publishing contracts upon. Ugh.
On the other hand, I know actual people who started out writing fanfic and were discovered by mainstream presses and hired to write official novelizations of the same material they were ficcing, so I'm not sure crossing the streams is necessarily always a bad thing. But it's one thing to be hired to write sanctioned material by the copyright holders, and it's a WHOLE OTHER THING to basically steal someone else's characters and settings and make buckets of money selling as it as your own original creations. That is just not right, even if it's not provably illegal.
It's not like this is the first time this has happened, though. Cassie Claire is only one prominent example, but I'm sure there are untold numbers of authors who have published books that were essentially derived from their fan fiction. I mean, if we're being totally honest, the novel I've been working on totally grew out of an idea I had for an Angel fic, but then I fleshed it out and COMPLETELY CHANGED ALL THE CHARACTERS and settings so they were only very loosely inspired by the original material and not, you know, a total rip off of someone else's hard work. Because otherwise it would be WRONG.
But then I think about all the Pride & Prejudice sequels that have been published, and how it's sort of weird that just because we've created this arbitrary statute of limitations on copyright it's okay to profit from Jane Austen fan fic, and Steven Moffat and Guy Ritchie can make piles of money doing whatever they want with Sherlock Holmes and how is that okay? I mean, I know it's different because Jane Austen isn't alive anymore trying to make a living from her writing and Stephanie Meyers is, but it just seems like hypocrisy.
In conclusion, I had two glasses of wine with dinner tonight, so I JUST DON'T KNOW. Also, Twilight sucks balls.
Oh, agreed to everything you're saying here. I mean, I know licensed publishing inside and out. But that is different. And there are many authors who got their start in fic, including good friends of mine, but again, they didn't just do a find and replace on their fanfic. I think that's what's annoying me most of all. That this basically IS fanfic. It's not something that grew out of an idea or a different fic, etc.
And the Pride & Prejudice stuff etc -- yeah, that's all public domain, so to my mind that is different. It's not something you could potentially get sued for.
I mean, I am OBVIOUSLY a huge lover of and proponent of fanfic. But this feels like it's crossing a line.
(Thank you for your awesomely thoughtful comment btw! Twilight does indeed suck balls, as does the literary taste of most of America.)
On the other hand, I know actual people who started out writing fanfic and were discovered by mainstream presses and hired to write official novelizations of the same material they were ficcing, so I'm not sure crossing the streams is necessarily always a bad thing. But it's one thing to be hired to write sanctioned material by the copyright holders, and it's a WHOLE OTHER THING to basically steal someone else's characters and settings and make buckets of money selling as it as your own original creations. That is just not right, even if it's not provably illegal.
It's not like this is the first time this has happened, though. Cassie Claire is only one prominent example, but I'm sure there are untold numbers of authors who have published books that were essentially derived from their fan fiction. I mean, if we're being totally honest, the novel I've been working on totally grew out of an idea I had for an Angel fic, but then I fleshed it out and COMPLETELY CHANGED ALL THE CHARACTERS and settings so they were only very loosely inspired by the original material and not, you know, a total rip off of someone else's hard work. Because otherwise it would be WRONG.
But then I think about all the Pride & Prejudice sequels that have been published, and how it's sort of weird that just because we've created this arbitrary statute of limitations on copyright it's okay to profit from Jane Austen fan fic, and Steven Moffat and Guy Ritchie can make piles of money doing whatever they want with Sherlock Holmes and how is that okay? I mean, I know it's different because Jane Austen isn't alive anymore trying to make a living from her writing and Stephanie Meyers is, but it just seems like hypocrisy.
In conclusion, I had two glasses of wine with dinner tonight, so I JUST DON'T KNOW. Also, Twilight sucks balls.
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Sus, this is why I love you more than my luggage. ::smooch:
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And the Pride & Prejudice stuff etc -- yeah, that's all public domain, so to my mind that is different. It's not something you could potentially get sued for.
I mean, I am OBVIOUSLY a huge lover of and proponent of fanfic. But this feels like it's crossing a line.
(Thank you for your awesomely thoughtful comment btw! Twilight does indeed suck balls, as does the literary taste of most of America.)
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