The biggest unaddressed problem with FanLib

[lebateleur]

Now, I've come into this controversy fairly late, and most of the potential problems with FanLib/CW have already been handily dealt with by other fen here on Henry Jenkin's blog.

I agree that Chris Williams is coming at this from a distinctly non-fennish profit-to-be-made MBA standpoint, that his site has the potential to create ten times as many problems legally as it "solves" user-wise, that he doesn't know the first thing about his target demographic, that online fandom already has at its disposal elsewhere all of the "features" his archive offers, etc, etc.

This leaves Williams with only one novel thing to potentially provide to me, the fanficcer: the opportunity to "get closer to the talent behind [my] favorite fandoms and participate in fun events" and "to be recognized and discovered by a wider audience and by our media partners."

And therein lies the problem.

Maybe this stuff would seem really neat to a certain segment of the (I'm betting just-discovered-fandom) fanficcing set. But it sure doesn't appeal to me. Getting closer to the talent behind my favorite fandoms? What on earth would I say to someone like Minekura Kazuya were I to meet her, especially through a commercial fanfic intermediary? "I like the story you're telling, but mostly because I've added to it myself"?

Or worse yet, someone like JK Rowling? "I find your characterisations two-dimensional and sophomoric and your plots full of careless inconsistencies, and that's why it's a nice jumping-off point for writing my own stories that address some of the problems I have with your novels"?

And if it would be bad saying those sorts of things to the creators, how about saying it to their publicists, or editors, or heaven forbid, media partners? Why would I want to?

I really only write fanfic for series where I feel I have something to add, whether it's because the original is inherently lacking, or because I can add something new (social commentary, sex, action, angst) that isn't already evident in sufficient quantities for my taste. I don't fanfic series--Farscape, FMA, Koori--where the series already does it all for me.

In other words, I write fic not only for the community participation or "empowerment" or "democratisation" or whatever other buzzword, but because I feel like I can in some way make the original better. And why on earth would I want to say something like that to its creator? (And yes, you can argue that I wouldn't have to say it at all; but if that's the case, why even bother meeting the creator through a specifically fanfic-sponsored venue? I could always just, you know, write a fan letter.)

And finally, if anyone is going bring my fanfic to a "wider audience," it's going to be me--I'm perfectly capable of offering hard copies of my fics at Comiket if I so desired--and not FanLib's media partners, thank you very much.

So, nope. Count me out on this one.


これで以上です。

Comments

[ook.livejournal.com]

Not to mention that many of the original creators would probably be very distressed at the large amounts of sexual content that fans enjoy writing (and this isn't even touching on the slash).

[lebateleur.livejournal.com]

Agreed, but one gets the inkling from the HJ interview that that will not be the sort of fanfic being brought to the attention of the creators and "media sponsors." I really get the idea that this model is supposed to appeal to younger writers with stars in their eyes about getting "noticed" and ending up with a gig scriptwriting or something.

[ook.livejournal.com]

Riiiiiight. Or to make young people think that anyway.

[lebateleur.livejournal.com]

Bingo. And hopefully they'll be generating user stats and click-throughs all the while.

Long time no chat, btw;-)

[ook.livejournal.com]

Yeah...do you ever use AIM or Yahoo chat any more? :)

[lebateleur.livejournal.com]

Actually, hardly at all any more, as I only have access to the net in a very public place (this is also why I've cut down on fennish activities on the whole).

But to return to what you were saying a few comments above, that was another thing that really got my goat: that FanLib is attempting to get fen to provide free content not only for their own site, but for the original creators as well. If I help script an original episode, I better damn well be compensated for it, especially because fanfic is still such a legal grey area.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yup, I call them my Type A and Type B fandoms. Type A are perfect and untouchable; Type B are the things I fic for, which tend to be the ones that leave me disatisfied in some way. There are a few exceptions, but for the most part...especially the things I get really hard-core into fic-wise, I'd want to meet the creators just to ask them what the hell they thought they were doing. Or weren't thinking, as the case may be. Ahem.

As far as fanlib goes, have you heard of the counter-response? fanarchive is out to organize a fan-run non-profit incorporated archive project. Pretty hardcore...

[lebateleur.livejournal.com]

I'd want to meet the creators just to ask them what the hell they thought they were doing. Or weren't thinking, as the case may be. Ahem.

Haha, exactly. And that's another problem with the "fanficcers meet the creators" model they're proposing. It doesn't matter whether fanficcers look for holes to fic or fic because they found holes first--there's still some dissatisfaction (however benign) with the original. What creator wants to be bombarded with people explaining all the unsatisfactory elements of their original? And that's assuming these are rational explanations, not the younger/less experienced "OMG I cant believe you wont admit Character X is in luv with Character Z OMG I hate you!" complaints.

[fyretoppaaa.livejournal.com]

In other words, I write fic not only for the community participation or "empowerment" or "democratisation" or whatever other buzzword, but because I feel like I can in some way make the original better.

Word, word, and word again. I think it's part of why I'm weak to small, obscure stories with an interesting but weak storyline and memorable characters. XD; *read: Juvenile Orion*

I haven't really gotten into all this FanLib business; it's been rather overshadowed by the general Strikethrough insanity, but what I've heard of it has me going ':\ yeah right', basically.

[lebateleur.livejournal.com]

I remember seeing JO merchandise at a Gamers in Nagoya way back when. The manga looked pretty spare for my tastes though; what is there to sell one on it?

Both FanLib and Strikethrough happened while I was out with a massive cold; it's too bad I had sworn off the computer entirely during that period, as I think they would have both been pretty amusing reads for someone hyped up on prescription cough syrup.^^

[fragilistikal.livejournal.com]

You can offer fic at Comiket...? huh.

[lebateleur.livejournal.com]

Oh, hell, yes. I'd say at least 1/3 of all the djs for sale at Japanese cons are actually fanfic (called 小説--novels--in Japanese) with minimal to zero illustrations. They are professionally printed and bound, not just computer lab printoffs, but the bottom line is that they're still fanfic, they're still exactly what you and I are doing, and if we lived in Japan, we could get in on that too.

[new-kate.livejournal.com]

I still have no idea how they are planning to legally navigate that. For the ongoing series, acknowledging that they read fanfic is opening such a can of worms. Basically, everyone posting their fic to the place where show writers might lurk needs to waive all the rights to their ideas, right? Because if the writers look only at gen non-AU futurefic, they will unevitably see the novelisation of their next episode or season there, considering that every canon can only fit in so much and thousands of fic writers will go through every option eventually. So the show writers will either have to look like they stole their ideas from a fan, or deliberately change what they were doing. Except the next fic posted might nix the new direction too. Imagine posting a WIP, which is what the ongoing TV series is, and then somebody posts a next chapter for your WIP on your f-list. And it's pretty close to the next chapter you are actually working on, because that's what you've been setting up for the last 20000 words. And everybody knows you've had a chance to read that story. GREAT. Except in the mainstream media there is also money and laywers involved.
So, the TOS needs to be such that the show writers can always say "hey, fanlib is our typing monkeys brainstorm room, they have signed up for this and are just giving away their ideas for free!" and this is what the FanLib might be angling at. Urg.

[lebateleur.livejournal.com]

Here are some examples of how they plan to navigate that, taken from the Jenkins/Williams interview above:

- FanLib has run two online storytelling events resulting in twelve winning authors being published in e-books distributed by HarperCollins.

- FanLib is currently running an event where authors have their parenting stories produced into short video episodes with major stars that are distributed on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and online.

- FanLib launched the first ever collaboration between a television creator and their fans resulting in an original episode screenplay for The L Word.

In other words, they plan to navigate it in at least some instances by roping fen into providing royalty-free content for the original franchises, which is another thing about this that gets my goat. If my ideas are good enough to become an original episode screenplay, if they're good enough to generate compelling content that benefits the Ellen DeGeneres Show's commercial sponsors, then they're good enough for you to pay me for the right to use them. Otherwise, I'll continue to put my writing in places where it benefits no one monetarily.