fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #4928 ]

⌈ Secret Post #4928 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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04. https://i.imgur.com/D25cLFc.png
[Emma 2020, OP warned for male nudity (from the back)]

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[Star Wars Expanded Universe, resized]

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06. https://i.imgur.com/R7v6vL6.png
[365 Days, OP warned for image of a dub/non-con sexual situation]

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07. [SPOILERS for Far Cry 5 and Far Cry New Dawn]

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08. [SPOILERS for The Magnus Archives]

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09. [WARNING for sexual assault]

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10. [WARNING for discussion of transphobia]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 00 secrets from Secret Submission Post #705.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 1 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

02. https://i.imgur.com/7a96bfS.png

I remember hearing of a really popular fanfic that went behind a (small) paywall because people kept on copying it and claiming it as their own. I don't know how well it works, but I've seen 'post low quality versions of your art and put the high quality images behind a paywall' as advice on how to prevent bots grabbing your art and selling it on tshirts.

I don't think fanfic SHOULD be paywalled mind, but I am sympathetic to that specific case.

lol the paywall thing is such a joke - for starters there's plenty of fanfics out there that are free so it wouldn't be such a big loss to not read those ones.
Secondly if I want to pay for media, there is more than enough in the form of movies/shows/comics/etc I could and would choose to pay for officially.
Thirdly, as much as the sadistic part of me will find it hilarious when said people get caught by the original creators/their company and get sued - my main worry would be that one batch of bad apples are going to spoil the whole barrel - as in once one lot gets dragged down for copyright infringement, its going to affect everyone else in fandoms in a very bad way.

OK then don't

The only times I've even tried to pay for fanfic - direct commissions or through charity auctions - I've either received nothing, or I've received garbage. Never again.

I'm not the only one! I bid on two fics in the Fandom Trumps Hate charity auction a couple of years ago and won, did the donations, and never got anything. I've written it off in my head because I would've donated anyway, but it has cured me of ever participating in any kind of fandom charity auction again.

I'd never pay for fanfiction either.

I'm old enough to still think writing fanfic (and yes, making fanart) for profit is fundamentally against everything that fandom is about, and that the whippersnappers doing it clearly don't know the rules.

I'm also fairly convinced that's not a battle we're winning all the time the real money is in online piracy and bootleg merchandise, so that TPTB don't bother going after fanfic writers. Honestly, the interesting thing is when the IP holders will get serious about trying to control that cashflow by taking control of fanfic publishing. Fanlib and Kindle Worlds both have happened already. If a fanfic platform capable of rivaling FFN/AO3/Wattpad but controlled by the IP holders comes along, there's a lot to be asked about the content allowed in the fic they'll host, and what THAT is going to do with fandom.

Fanlib and Kindle Worlds both have happened already. If a fanfic platform capable of rivaling FFN/AO3/Wattpad but controlled by the IP holders comes along, there's a lot to be asked about the content allowed in the fic they'll host, and what THAT is going to do with fandom.

not trying to hijack here, but please, do explain more about this, please.

I don't know if I'm considered one of these whippersnappers (probably not), but I've never been keen on the idea of paying for fanfic. Like..why would I? We're all just sharing the love, so to speak. A commissioned fic...well...I don't know about that, but that would have more to do that I'm getting a specific plot filled to my specifications. And at that point I either list it in a prompt or do it myself. Or find a close enough fic and change names if needed.

If the IP holders host the fic, they're absolutely within their rights to dictate the content allowed on their platform. They could ban smut, or controversial ships - where "controversial" can be something as simple as slash, if they're operating in the right country and language (just look to China). Disney, Nintendo or JKR would NEVER officially endorse content with incest, dubcon tropes like omegaverse and sex pollen, and legally questionable romances like student-teacher or other age gaps pairing involving minors. And until the day they'd create some surefire way of keeping minors away from their platforms, I'm willing to bet that gore and horror would be no-go as well, less they face the rage of twenty million parents of traumatised eight year olds.

IF some or more IP holders succesfully cornered the fanfic market, then we might wonder if they'd tolerate fanfic published on other platforms, given the legal gray area that fic operates in. And if they went after fic published on other platforms than their own, particularly if the "clean" fic stayed on their platform while the filth was posted elsewhere, then we'd end up back in the old days with hand-to-hand distributed zines and-slash-or the THIS BELONGS TO [IP HOLDER] I'M MAKING NO PROFIT FOR THIS PLS DON'T SUE disclaimers that would have no legal weight anyway.

This thing about the commersialisation of fanfic ties into the topic of fic commissions/paywalls because there clearly DOES exist an audience willing to cash out for this content, and becaues TPTB knows about this. Fanlib and Kindle Worlds both failed, but they both tried to attract writers by the chance to make money (contests with cash prizes on Fanlib, royalties on Kindle Worlds).

This article on Kindle Worlds has a lot of interesting commentary (https://fanlore.org/wiki/Kindle_Worlds), both on the topic of IP holder control of fan creations, and on the topic of monetization of fic.

If you're interested, this thread on why AO3 cannot allow ko-fi and patreon links (https://olderthannetfic.tumblr.com/post/189186924284/important-flurbejurbvondurp-this-is-so-fucking) is also great.

One more: "A fanfic hosting website that allows you to link your patreon is a fanfic hosting website where you get 20% into a novel length fic only to discover the rest of the story is behind a paywall." (https://adrianners.tumblr.com/post/189254252377/ao3-and-ads)

Thanks! I have my reading, material set now! I didn't realize there were attempts by IP holders to capitalize (in this way) on fandom. I mean, I'm not surprised, but it's a rather bold-faced attempt that I hope most participants in fanfic/fandom can see through...

Also, I remember those disclaimers lol I think I still put them on my fics.

I could never pay for fic (or art, I think) either. I don't spend that much on fandom merch, except maybe tees, because I don't want to be left with a bunch of useless stuff when I move on to something else. But mostly it's because I grew up in the days of fic disclaimers and sites getting taken down even for completely harmless stuff. We've got it pretty good now and I worry that all the people talking commissions and linking patreons and ko-fis and whatnot, will bring down the copyright gods or something. Even if I definitely get wanting to buy or sell fic.

I wouldn't pay for or try to sell fic, either. Aside from the valid concerns about copyright infringement and such, given the way fandom can be sometimes with ship wars and BNFs and things of that sort, it's not hard to imagine how badly that could play out in terms of what writers will charge for fic or what readers will and won't pay for and things of that sort, too.

It's just way too messy an issue and I definitely don't think it should be a thing.

I feel like I wrote this, haha.

The obsessive hatred of fic commissions (while talented fan-artists can usually make a decent chunk of money on commission, with minimum drama) is one of the things I'll always despise about 'old fandom', even if that was the atmosphere I grew up in myself.

Nor am I swayed by 'what about cease-and-desist?' hand-wringing. People will learn how to be clever about it (vetted communities, vetted mailing-lists, commissions for 'ghostwriting services' where the actual thing being commissioned is fic, etc). Also, the fact that such posts always turn into wanking about copyright is frustrating, but unsurprising, given how many people in English-language spaces grow up in complete deference of the thing.

[ SECRET POST #4928 ]

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