The FanLib controversy

[frozencatnip]

Okay, thanks to dreadpiratekurt, I've been reading up on FanLib, a site on which I've posted the majority of the fics I've written over the years. Apparently, there's a great deal of controversy over how fanfic writers are contributing their submissions (and no, per the TOS, they are Not handing over exclusive rights) to a multi-million dollar company that's

Comments

[cad27]

The more I read this instead of doing my assignments, the more I can understand why people are perturbed by it. I mean, I see your points, yes, very much so, but I also see quite clearly in my own mind the difference between writing fanfic for the reasons that people do (inspiration, they like writing, they think buttsex is hot, whatever) and what kind of boils down to making money of other people's work

[quenya_tattoo]

Legitimacy. If by legitimacy you mean "ability to not get sued" then okay, I mean it'd be nice to live without fear of C&D letters. But the fact of the matter is that these characters and worlds DO belong to someone (I know you know this but I just want to say it somewhere and... I'm here!) They are the intellectual property of Marvel Inc. and Anne Rice. And if Anne Rice wants to be a douchebag and say, "Cease and Desist!" because you're upsetting her delicate vampire sensibilities... well she doesn't really have a legal leg to stand on there any more than she would if she were trying to stop kids from passing notes that say "Lestat LOVES Rowan!!" in Geometry class or a few friends sitting around talking about the hotness of Armand on Marius action over beers.

And that is true ONLY because no one has made any money but her off her characters/world. You can't post AR fic because no one on our level is going to tangle with her lawyers just so they can post their mental masturbation about Claudia coming back from the ashes to kill

[frozencatnip]

Just my definition of legitimacy, which is no one's fault but my own.

I'm not disputing the fact that we have no right to make money off playing in someone else's world. And, in a way, I suppose that those businesses that do generate income from fanfic (ff.net and LJ come to mind) should in some way reimburse the copyright holders.

I suppose by "legitimize" I'm referring more to recognition. For what seems to me to be one of the first times, publishing companies are actually taking some sort of look at fanfic. Yes, I'm sure they're doing it to make money as well; money makes the world go round, or at least keeps businesses viable. And possibly it's an overly optimistic view, but I'd like to think that they just Might take a look at some of it (not necessarily mine, but someone's) and think "Wow, this person has a lot of potential; we should watch for their name to show up in our slush pile".

Or, perhaps, they won't, and it's just one more place to archive and share the love. I don't know. But it's a thought!