My two cents on FanLib.com

[astridv]

(I gotta get to work but this meta has been scratching at the inside of my head, wanting out.)

[edit: removed the direkt link to fanlib.com; no need to up their google ranking] The FanLib discussion has finally hit metafandom; tomorrow it should be all over LJ.

My first reaction when I read about it on fanthropology last week was: knee-jerk unease and skepticism. Now

Comments

[astridv]

You cybersquatter, you.

I think the best thing would be to boycott the site. Voting with our feet, lest this sort of thing catches on. It opens a whole can of nasty wiggling worms.

Those people can't be unaware of that. I mean, those are industry people. They got a lawyer on their board of directors, I believe I read. Even their "co-promotional partners" don't own the rights of the majority of the fic featured on that site... What the hell are they thinking? Do they *want* to push a test case?

Besides, I think that fic should be not-for-profit and covered by fair use but *if* someone gets to profit, it would seem appropriate that the fic writers and the copyright holders get a cut.

[yseultdb]

Am also joylessly cybersquatting.

They got a lawyer on their board of directors, I believe I read.
Sure sounded like it. We'll see what happens.

[astridv]

Hey, haven't seen you around in ages! :)

Sure sounded like it. We'll see what happens.

Yeah. It's at least interesting to watch. All former attempts to turn fic into coin have been stomped out rather quickly. And the fact that these are outsiders, with money and business sense but without fandom street cred, can't help things.

[yseultdb]

haven't seen you around in ages!

Been lurking and snarfing all the Jericho eps I could watch at one go!

[cofax7]

Did you read the post and comments on genreneep?
The Here. jdsampson, IIRC, helps run the boards. Her position appears to be that it's all fine and dandy that men from outside fandom can appropriate the product of forty years of female creativity, for profit. Why ever should it be a problem to have only men in charge? Why ever should the legal situation be a problem? After all, it's only what LJ and YahooGroups do...

::bangs head against desk repeatedly::

Honest to god, I can't tell whether it's just amateur hour or active evil. Or both. Trumpeting their partnerships with publishers and content providers makes it more likely they'll lose an infringement suit, not less.

And... I just had a horrible thought: you could take down fandom from the outside, by drumming up enough attention that the producers have to take action....

[astridv]

I read some of that thread. I've seen jdsampson state elsewhere (on the fanthropology thread I think) that ffn is making a profit as well, arguing that fanlib is not different from ffn. I'm wondering whether there is any truth to that statement or whether it's BS. As far as I know, all sites like ffn are non-profit, the money going into maintaining the archive.

I see that she didn't argue further when you said that ffn is not for profit. That would speak for the BS theory.

I'm a little wary when it comes to the gender issue because I think it's just one factor out of many (and I know plenty of male fic writers) but yeah, I find it offputting to see not one woman on their board of directors. It leaves a nasty aftertaste.

And... I just had a horrible thought: you could take down fandom from the outside, by drumming up enough attention that the producers have to take action....A paranoid little part of me had the same thought, that someone's trying to force fanfic before a court, but I don't really believe that. Not least because too

[cofax7]

Oh, it's total BS, especially in light of the Grokster decision

2 cents from nowhere

[cesperanza]

I have to say, while I don't like the fanlib site, and I don't want to see profit brought into the community as a factor, and I certainly don't like the all male board of directors, I reject this argument that we should be legally worried because fanfiction is infringing. I don't think it is. There's been no legal ruling that says that it is. I think when/if it goes to court--if it ever does, which I don't think it will--fanfiction will be declared to be a transformative work. There's a huge difference between fanfic--where all the words are mine, that I put down in a unique order to convey a message that came out of my brain, even if the message is as simple as "Rodney and John are in love," (which it never is) and music or video piracy, where the mp3 someone gives me is the exact thing that I would have paid for. Vidding is a trickier case, because the source is theirs and the music is theirs and the uniqueness is in the conjunction/editing, but I'm hopeful even their that the effort put into creating the message of the vid

fanlib

[mimbo]

hey everyone,
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

What We Have Here Is A Failure To Communicate

[morgandawn]

woh! if this really is coming from one of the founders of fanlib, than I think their business model may be a self-correcting one - in that a lack of professionalism and inability to discuss the issues (even with people that are - in one's own opinion - being unreasonable) are the hallmarks of failure.

So let's hope this is a troll and not the "coming of age of fan fiction, or "fanfic."

PS. You keep using this word "fanfic".... I do not think it means what you think it means....

Re: What We Have Here Is A Failure To Communicate

[astridv]

Huh. Just got out of bed and this comment is the first thing I see. I'm pretty sure it's a troll, but I need to have some tea and get some more info before making up my mind.

But dude, yeah, if this is not a troll... no, can't be. My whole impression of their site was one of professionalism. This... doesn't compute.

Re: What We Have Here Is A Failure To Communicate

[mimbo]

It's a troll. The posts from staff on their forums are unfailingly polite, regardless of whether the poster is criticising something they've done, and correctly spelt and capitalised

Sick

[zorrorojo]

I'm literally sick to my stomach right now browsing that site.

Disgusting. Should have known the profit driven would eventually try to worm their way into fandom.

Anyone who posts their stories there is kind of foolish. Unless they *like* other people profitting off of their work.

I do not believe fanfiction is copyright infringment and do believe if it ever actually went to court, it would fall under fair use for transformative works. I'm neither a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV, however so YMMV

(oh, and here from Ces's LJ in case you're wondering.

Re: Sick

[astridv]

Weirdly enough, I'm not in any way getting worked up about it. And normally my blood pressure easily rises on occasions like this. I think my brain is still boggling too hard trying to figure out what they're thinking (and why they didn't anticipate this reaction).

I do not believe fanfiction is copyright infringment and do believe if it ever actually went to court, it would fall under fair use for transformative works. I'm neither a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV, however so YMMV

I totally agree. Just, no one really wants to be the test case for *that* one, I imagine...