Feeling Ranty
May. 16th, 2007 09:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lotesseI am so frelling pissed off about the FanLib thing that I can’t even see straight.
This is why I don’t think that fic should ever be mentioned to TPTB, why the How Fanfiction Makes Us Poor discussions made me deeply anxious. It’s not that I think we need to hide away because we’re perverts; it’s that I don’t trust them not to screw us over.
I still can’t quite believe that fandom’s made it this far without succumbing to some sort of capitalist trap. I mean, nothing lasts, right? And we’ve had how many decades? And we’ve gone from vines to mailing lists to eljay, and things have changed, but the essential joy at the heart of this thing that we do has pretty my stayed the same.
The two things that I value most about fandom are the anonymity and the lack of pricetags. And without those two things, I suspect that fan culture as we know it would cease to exist. Fandom right now is textual and communicatory free space. You can say absolutely anything. There’s no shame.
The anonymity provides that lack of shame, but the non-commercial nature of fandom is what allows its expression. In a world where fanwriters compete for money, I don’t know that we’re going to see the same willingness to take a risk, go someplace new. I mean, yeah we all like to be popular, but it’s not like there’s money attached. Would slash culture have ever happened if we had to consider the financial bottom line?
Maybe I’m blowing this out of proportion, I don’t know. I just know that I came into fandom as a thirteen-year-old kid with no sense but a whole lot of love and need, and it’s been the best thing in my life. I came in through fanfiction.net, and I was raw, and if someone had tried to scam me like those damned fuckards at FanLib I might have gotten suckered in to it. I mean, personally speaking, I’m terribly grateful that fandom doesn’t have to involve money, or I might have been way more badly burned by the collapse of Bit of Earth than I was.
The older I get, the more intensely I value fan culture. I’m in academia now, and if I could find half the creativity and passion and risk-taking in the classroom or in journals that I do here, I’d think it was a miracle. No one controls us, because no one is holding money over our heads. We have complete creative ownership of our space, but only as long as money is not exchanged for or involved in fanworks. And that’s not even close to what the FanLib people want—they’re not ficcers asking for remuneration, they’re venture capitalists trying to profit off of our love and passion while giving us nothing in return, but a sop of notoriety.
We don’t need no stinking validation. We’re better on our own, outside of systems that will put a price to love.
I want to link to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
angiepen’s analysis of the FanLib TOS, because she’s got the skills to take this apart in ways that I can’t. Also, we should organize. I have no idea what to do, but we should organize. Who knows how to do this stuff?
This is why I don’t think that fic should ever be mentioned to TPTB, why the How Fanfiction Makes Us Poor discussions made me deeply anxious. It’s not that I think we need to hide away because we’re perverts; it’s that I don’t trust them not to screw us over.
I still can’t quite believe that fandom’s made it this far without succumbing to some sort of capitalist trap. I mean, nothing lasts, right? And we’ve had how many decades? And we’ve gone from vines to mailing lists to eljay, and things have changed, but the essential joy at the heart of this thing that we do has pretty my stayed the same.
The two things that I value most about fandom are the anonymity and the lack of pricetags. And without those two things, I suspect that fan culture as we know it would cease to exist. Fandom right now is textual and communicatory free space. You can say absolutely anything. There’s no shame.
The anonymity provides that lack of shame, but the non-commercial nature of fandom is what allows its expression. In a world where fanwriters compete for money, I don’t know that we’re going to see the same willingness to take a risk, go someplace new. I mean, yeah we all like to be popular, but it’s not like there’s money attached. Would slash culture have ever happened if we had to consider the financial bottom line?
Maybe I’m blowing this out of proportion, I don’t know. I just know that I came into fandom as a thirteen-year-old kid with no sense but a whole lot of love and need, and it’s been the best thing in my life. I came in through fanfiction.net, and I was raw, and if someone had tried to scam me like those damned fuckards at FanLib I might have gotten suckered in to it. I mean, personally speaking, I’m terribly grateful that fandom doesn’t have to involve money, or I might have been way more badly burned by the collapse of Bit of Earth than I was.
The older I get, the more intensely I value fan culture. I’m in academia now, and if I could find half the creativity and passion and risk-taking in the classroom or in journals that I do here, I’d think it was a miracle. No one controls us, because no one is holding money over our heads. We have complete creative ownership of our space, but only as long as money is not exchanged for or involved in fanworks. And that’s not even close to what the FanLib people want—they’re not ficcers asking for remuneration, they’re venture capitalists trying to profit off of our love and passion while giving us nothing in return, but a sop of notoriety.
We don’t need no stinking validation. We’re better on our own, outside of systems that will put a price to love.
I want to link to
angiepen’s analysis of the FanLib TOS, because she’s got the skills to take this apart in ways that I can’t. Also, we should organize. I have no idea what to do, but we should organize. Who knows how to do this stuff?
no subject
Date: 2007-05-17 02:33 pm (UTC)And the contests! Things like the "Fan Finale of Ghost Whisperper" challenge that is apparently a collaboration with CBS - they're all so very commercialized. And what happens if something goes wrong with one of those very public, very media-oriented contests and suddenly there's a legal fox hunt for the involved copyright infringers? According to the TOS, FanLib will hang the authors out to dry and save itself.
The FAQ forum is also a little chilling.
We are backed by major investors and we make money mainly by selling advertising, but also by helping other companies like HarperCollins and MSN produce their own "storytelling" events.
In 2007, the powers that be who once battled fanfic authors are ready to take a new approach. We are working closely with media companies and publishers so that this site can help lead the way.
All smacks of a very "we can't beat them, so we'll insiduously take over" mentality, yes?
no subject
Date: 2007-05-17 04:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-18 08:52 pm (UTC)*twitch* Yes. Oh, yes. Which is why I'm quite glad people are spreading the warnings about this place around. Frankly, a large portion of the fic I write? There's no commercial market for it, and the fanfic is gladly shared with the world for free in hopes of feedback.
Fandom is my space, and where I can be myself without having to present a "safe" corporate persona. I do that at work because they pay me to be normal.