Polishing off an old fannish chestnut
I've recently seen links to zine distributors and writers who are selling downloads of stories, whether their own or other writers, sometimes alongside paper zines and sometimes instead of them. That set me to thinking about that old, old conflict, the making of money out of fannish endeavour. Those who've heard it all before, feel free to scroll on by.
It's never happened before but there's always a first time so I'd like to say 'no thanks' if anyone thinks this could be worth meta-fandoming.
When I first saw that people were offering downloads for money, my gut reaction was 'Do Not Want!' 'Ebil!' even. After reflection, I still feel very uncomfortable about the idea. However, nothing in life is ever simple.
In general, the expectation has been that if people pay for a tangible fannish item, that they pay no more than the cost of production. In reality, there is often a small, admittedly very small, profit sometimes made. In some cases, there is considerable resentment in fannish circles when a quick play with a calculator suggests that a damn sight more than a small profit is being made. Producers of zines and art work have been particularly open to criticism in that regard.
Writers produce only ideas, not tangible items - despite the fact that a zine seller would have nothing to sell without them. Anyone who produces something based on a media property or book is potentially infringing copyright. Maybe we are. Maybe we aren't, and our efforts are a version of fair use which takes nothing away and actually has the power to add to the value of the original copy-right holders' creation. Certainly, as a fan, I have spent way too much money on books, memorabilia and videos, CDs and DVDs.
I'm not going to dig into the morass of copyright issues except in the most surface of ways. I guess that I'm looking at this from the pov of community expectations, which is just as much of a morass, but at least an issue that I feel I have more knowledge of. However, I think that offering downloads for money certainly makes those 'I make no money' disclaimers sound a little hollow. We are not legally entitled to 'cover the costs' of fandom, especially when our right to merely play with the properties is still disputed. Copyright holders usually tolerate us because we are just having fun, we're providing them with potential income and advertising, and going after the nerds presents public relations damage for comparatively little reward. Having said that, there have been C& D notices issued before now. There has been a court case in Harry Potter fandom about the rights to intellectual property. We present ourselves as "mostly harmless" to the wider world, and as we become more visible (something I regret but which seems to be inevitable) I'd like to stay looking "mostly harmless".
Once upon a time, fandom existed before the internet. It even existed before easy access to video-recorders. And in that time, zines were pretty damn high on the hierarchy of fannish needs. Now, they're no longer a need, they're at best a pleasant luxury. I'm tight with my money. I live in NZ, where the exchange rate has all too often been crap, and ordering Australian produced zines back in the late seventies and early eighties was an act of fannish devotion. And then I discovered the internet. Wow!
One of the things that I love about fandom as a thing in its own right is that there is a great deal of sharing. I obtained episodes of The Sentinel free from a fellow fan. (And when Paramount got off their chuffs and released Season 1, yes, I laid down my money and I bought it.) I read fic in many fandoms on archives which were supported by the generosity of other fans. I enjoy the give and take of ideas and support. Yes, I know that fandom is not all rainbows and unicorns. It can be vicious. It can be stupid. But overall, it's there, providing people with a tremendously valuable outlet for their enjoyment of whatever their favourite obsession seems to be.
I commented to Fluterbev that if anyone was entitled to 'cover the costs' of fandom that it was archive owners. (Disclaimer: I am a moderator of a TS archive, although not the site owner. But yes, I will be paying money for my own and other people's access to fandom. The high ground. She is good. *g*) I would like to think that people who charge for fic downloads are singularities within fandom, rather than an ongoing trend.
Zines used to be a form of gatekeeping, and many zine providers barely covered their costs and even lost on zines, because they love their fandom. Some people, looking at the anarchy of the web where any old sort of crap can appear, would perhaps argue that gatekeeping isn't such a bad thing. But the anarchy allows the broadest possible inclusiveness which I happen to think is a good thing. This period of fandom will rise and fall on wider issues of the economy and the future of the web, but for now, there are plenty of options for sharing fannish endeavour that don't have to cost you more than your internet connection. Archives, lists, a free Live Journal, sending your readership a story file through email. With those options still available, I feel desperately uncomfortable at the idea of paid fic downloads.
It's never happened before but there's always a first time so I'd like to say 'no thanks' if anyone thinks this could be worth meta-fandoming.
When I first saw that people were offering downloads for money, my gut reaction was 'Do Not Want!' 'Ebil!' even. After reflection, I still feel very uncomfortable about the idea. However, nothing in life is ever simple.
In general, the expectation has been that if people pay for a tangible fannish item, that they pay no more than the cost of production. In reality, there is often a small, admittedly very small, profit sometimes made. In some cases, there is considerable resentment in fannish circles when a quick play with a calculator suggests that a damn sight more than a small profit is being made. Producers of zines and art work have been particularly open to criticism in that regard.
Writers produce only ideas, not tangible items - despite the fact that a zine seller would have nothing to sell without them. Anyone who produces something based on a media property or book is potentially infringing copyright. Maybe we are. Maybe we aren't, and our efforts are a version of fair use which takes nothing away and actually has the power to add to the value of the original copy-right holders' creation. Certainly, as a fan, I have spent way too much money on books, memorabilia and videos, CDs and DVDs.
I'm not going to dig into the morass of copyright issues except in the most surface of ways. I guess that I'm looking at this from the pov of community expectations, which is just as much of a morass, but at least an issue that I feel I have more knowledge of. However, I think that offering downloads for money certainly makes those 'I make no money' disclaimers sound a little hollow. We are not legally entitled to 'cover the costs' of fandom, especially when our right to merely play with the properties is still disputed. Copyright holders usually tolerate us because we are just having fun, we're providing them with potential income and advertising, and going after the nerds presents public relations damage for comparatively little reward. Having said that, there have been C& D notices issued before now. There has been a court case in Harry Potter fandom about the rights to intellectual property. We present ourselves as "mostly harmless" to the wider world, and as we become more visible (something I regret but which seems to be inevitable) I'd like to stay looking "mostly harmless".
Once upon a time, fandom existed before the internet. It even existed before easy access to video-recorders. And in that time, zines were pretty damn high on the hierarchy of fannish needs. Now, they're no longer a need, they're at best a pleasant luxury. I'm tight with my money. I live in NZ, where the exchange rate has all too often been crap, and ordering Australian produced zines back in the late seventies and early eighties was an act of fannish devotion. And then I discovered the internet. Wow!
One of the things that I love about fandom as a thing in its own right is that there is a great deal of sharing. I obtained episodes of The Sentinel free from a fellow fan. (And when Paramount got off their chuffs and released Season 1, yes, I laid down my money and I bought it.) I read fic in many fandoms on archives which were supported by the generosity of other fans. I enjoy the give and take of ideas and support. Yes, I know that fandom is not all rainbows and unicorns. It can be vicious. It can be stupid. But overall, it's there, providing people with a tremendously valuable outlet for their enjoyment of whatever their favourite obsession seems to be.
I commented to Fluterbev that if anyone was entitled to 'cover the costs' of fandom that it was archive owners. (Disclaimer: I am a moderator of a TS archive, although not the site owner. But yes, I will be paying money for my own and other people's access to fandom. The high ground. She is good. *g*) I would like to think that people who charge for fic downloads are singularities within fandom, rather than an ongoing trend.
Zines used to be a form of gatekeeping, and many zine providers barely covered their costs and even lost on zines, because they love their fandom. Some people, looking at the anarchy of the web where any old sort of crap can appear, would perhaps argue that gatekeeping isn't such a bad thing. But the anarchy allows the broadest possible inclusiveness which I happen to think is a good thing. This period of fandom will rise and fall on wider issues of the economy and the future of the web, but for now, there are plenty of options for sharing fannish endeavour that don't have to cost you more than your internet connection. Archives, lists, a free Live Journal, sending your readership a story file through email. With those options still available, I feel desperately uncomfortable at the idea of paid fic downloads.