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Fan Fiction Writers Balk at FanLib.com
bill jackson writes "A couple of former Yahoo execs are trying to create the next MySpace by aggregating fanfiction on a website called FanLib. But the fanfic writers recognized that exploitation was written all over the idea and they've refused to participate. 'Instead of creating the Myspace of fanfic since the launch two weeks ago, FanLib.com sparked a white-hot Internet firestorm.The meltdown is a hard lesson in how not to conduct business on the Internet.But it's a firestorm of FanLib's own making because, in spite of the Yahoo pedigree (or maybe because of it), they plowed in like china shop bulls.'"
This is the most comprehensive and informative link I've seen on that. And Boingboing picked the story up this morning. I heard from a friend in a fanfic community there that they were deleting journals just because the keywords "rape" or "incest" were used in the interests field. So the journals of some rape victims and incest survivors were suddenly terminated.
I don't know why slashdot hasn't picked it up. This place is so slow. Digg and Reddit already have stories about it which are getting voted up and should be on the front page by this evening
I suspect an awful lot of the negative reaction comes from three factors: 1. Membership in the site would certainly have a "We own your postings." clause in the Terms of Service.
"At FanLib, we expect you to post the content you create ("Your Content") on the website. You keep any and all rights to Your Content. FanLib does not own any rights to Your Content."
2. *And* a "We reserve the right to censor anything you post we don't like." clause.
"FanLib encourages and supports active and open publication of fan fiction in a lawful and civil manner. We do not monitor the FanLib Website for inappropriate content or conduct"
(The only "we reserve the right to remove..." they give as part of that applies to outright illegal content).
3. An unwritten consequence of (1) would be: "If it's really good, we'll use it to make money. Thanks suckers." clause.
"You authorize FanLib to make, reproduce, distribute, and display these summaries or descriptions on FanLib.com or through its services but not for any other purpose unrelated to FanLib.com. If you mark any of Your Content private, we will not promote and/or showcase Your Content."
I consider myself about as anti-corporate as they come, but I really can't see the fuss over FanLib's TOS. It pretty much addresses every concern you raised.
Yeah, that's the face they present to the writers.
Check out the face they present to the publishers: http://www.scalzi.com/whatever/005131.html
Stories OnLine
The Pendorwright Projects
usenet:assm
And none of this is lining any corporation's pockets off the sweat of the authors.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
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This group of wannabe internet police have been responsible for a large amount of the shutdown groups lately.
Basically they mass report any user/group with certain keywords in their name.
They mainly focus on live journal but are beginning to harass other sites as well.
http://kitesareevil.livejournal.com/257387.html?fo rmat=lightp df
http://www.my2centences.com/my2c_new/FanLib_info.
That is what we fanfic writers are upset about. The PDF is evidence and proof of their corporate ulterior motives and the first link explains a lot of this better than the given link and the connection between my2centences and fanlib.
but if you follow the link above leads us to a link to this page,
which contains this text:
"If you're looking for the FanLib brochure, it has been removed.
Published in 2004, the brochure contained outdated information for special collaborative events."
so saying that this is the face they present to publishers may not be w/o controversy.
They called the whole thing a "marketing service". They're not looking for writers. They're looking for, "OMG, you have to read my new Harry Potter story!" so that people talk about HP more and they can make more money. "Collaborative storytelling" is just a gimmick to try and get more people to join, and the "staying within the lines" comment is so that there's not a bunch of stories of Harry hooking up with Snape and Dumbledore.
:)
:)
Trust me, stories written collaboratively by a bunch of novices are *not* getting on the air, anywhere. A story written by one novice is bad enough. Many different novices? Don't be silly.
This concept is really a bit of daydream fantasy on the part of Kites Are Evil and other commenters that belies a complete misunderstanding of the publishing and screenwriting industries. These are ridiculously demand-driven industries. Supply is way, way, way too common. The vast majority of writers -- *good*, *established* writers -- make very little. Some book that you like, if it's not written by one of the "really big names", probably is written by an author who has second job that pays part of the bills. To find new writers, agents go through literally *thousands* of queries before they pick up a client, and even then, there's no guarantee that the agent will be able to sell the work.
Nobody wants to publish garbage. Sadly, they have to turn down a darned lot of stuff that isn't garbage at all, simply because there's too much supply.
When a famous/popular writer is overloaded, or wants to go on to other work, indeed, other writers will fill in for them. However, these are generally established writers. Oftentimes, they're written on contract. The publisher *approached them* with the idea.
The whole notion that publishers want a bunch of garbage written by amateurs -- even worse, by a bunch of amateurs working together -- when the market is already flooded, and there are plenty of writers who would gladly sell out for extra cash... it's just silly.
Anyways, keep writing your fanfic.
"Now," she thought, watching the dolphins adjust their bowties, "might be a good time to up my medication."