So here is my friend Dennis McCunney's initial analysis on what this is and what it means for writers:
Amazon cut a deal with Alloy to do commercial fanfic tie-ins to three Alloy TV properties.
Essentially Amazon is licensing work-for-hire stuff submitted by fanfic authors writing in those universes. Like other tie-in projects, I expect guidelines that will specify what characters the authors can use and what storylines they can deal with. I assume they *won't* be allowed to use major characters, or any story line in a current major arc.
It's a potentially good deal for Amazon: it lets them profit from the huge audience for fan fiction. It's a potentially good deal for Alloy: it lets them get tie-in work that can potentially extend and broaden the appeal of the TV properties for a pittance.
Whether it's a good deal for *writers* is another matter. The payments involved are laughable by any professional standards. In exchange for fairly miniscule pay, the authors must give up an enormous amount of creative freedom by adhering to the guidelines they'll be given. The pay is unlikely to be anything approaching adequate compensation. And because it's work-for-hire, rights reside with Amazon and Alloy.
TV and publishing have both been consistently trying to reduce expenses, and one place such cost cutting has been going on is what is paid to writers. This deal assumes fanfic authors will be willing to write for a pittance, for the dubious distinction of getting "published". If I wrote tie-ins for money, I'd be alarmed by this, as it puts pressure on what I might expect to get paid.
Amazon cut a deal with Alloy to do commercial fanfic tie-ins to three Alloy TV properties.
Essentially Amazon is licensing work-for-hire stuff submitted by fanfic authors writing in those universes. Like other tie-in projects, I expect guidelines that will specify what characters the authors can use and what storylines they can deal with. I assume they *won't* be allowed to use major characters, or any story line in a current major arc.
It's a potentially good deal for Amazon: it lets them profit from the huge audience for fan fiction. It's a potentially good deal for Alloy: it lets them get tie-in work that can potentially extend and broaden the appeal of the TV properties for a pittance.
Whether it's a good deal for *writers* is another matter. The payments involved are laughable by any professional standards. In exchange for fairly miniscule pay, the authors must give up an enormous amount of creative freedom by adhering to the guidelines they'll be given. The pay is unlikely to be anything approaching adequate compensation. And because it's work-for-hire, rights reside with Amazon and Alloy.
TV and publishing have both been consistently trying to reduce expenses, and one place such cost cutting has been going on is what is paid to writers. This deal assumes fanfic authors will be willing to write for a pittance, for the dubious distinction of getting "published". If I wrote tie-ins for money, I'd be alarmed by this, as it puts pressure on what I might expect to get paid.
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