Pulling fanfics from the internet - your opinions?
Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 4:01 am
Okay, so this has been bugging me for a while and I wanted to get it out there and see what others thought about it. A few months ago, I wanted something new to read, so I headed over to Twilighted.net to see if there were any good Twilight fics around (All-Human, since I'm not keen on the Twilight canon). I've found a few good ones (although I still feel that the Roswell fandom has much higher quality writing in it), but I've just been amazed (not in a good way) at the attitudes of authors towards plagiarism and the ownership of their stories.
There have been a ton of the most popular Twilight stories that have been pulled from the internet by the authors because of plagiarism or because their stories have been flamed by feedbackers. One day the story is posted online, the next, the author won't let anyone read it anymore because someone tried to plagiarise it or said nasty things about it. Some authors have even gone as far as to legally copyright their characters and stories so that they can't be plagiarised by others (although I'm not sure how 'legal' this is, since the characters weren't theirs to start with).
It just seems completely backwards... here at Fanatics, if anyone finds that a story is being plagiarised, then the plagiarist is called out and banned and the original fanfic remains. But in Twilight fic, if a story is plagiarised, the author takes the story off the internet and either refuses to send anyone a copy or posts it on a private account and makes everyone open an account and get 'approved access' from the author to read it (i.e. you will only be approved if you have left feedback for the story before and the author recognises your username). For one fic, there's actually a note that says: "Once you have access, do NOT discuss the fic ANYWHERE, nor are you to share it. EVER." It's just so over-the-top and dramatic... it's not like us fanfic writers have many legal rights anyway, since fanfiction is a often sore subject with published authors and TV/film writers.
It just makes me so angry that authors can be that self-righteous and selfish with their work (it's like they think that they have the right to choose who reads it... but it was posted on the internet where anyone can access it... and also that their work is in such demand that it's not safe to keep online because others will plagiarise it too). There have been two stories that I wanted to read that were pulled by the authors before I got a chance... when I emailed them to ask if I might be able to get a copy to read, one refused outright and said 'subscribe to my blog to see if it will be posted again in the future' and the other never even bothered to reply. There seems to be a general consensus in the Twi-fandom that no one should save or share copies of a story unless it has been approved by the author (but, of course, it seems that none of the authors will let you read it). I can understand pulling a story if you're going to re-work it for publishing and can't have it online anymore (although it does appear that a lot of Twilight fic writers think they can get published), but otherwise, I don't get it.
What does everyone else think? Should stories be pulled from the fandom just because someone tried to plagiarise them or flamed them? Is it right to withhold a story from readers who love it just because someone once tried to plagiarise it?
There have been a ton of the most popular Twilight stories that have been pulled from the internet by the authors because of plagiarism or because their stories have been flamed by feedbackers. One day the story is posted online, the next, the author won't let anyone read it anymore because someone tried to plagiarise it or said nasty things about it. Some authors have even gone as far as to legally copyright their characters and stories so that they can't be plagiarised by others (although I'm not sure how 'legal' this is, since the characters weren't theirs to start with).
It just seems completely backwards... here at Fanatics, if anyone finds that a story is being plagiarised, then the plagiarist is called out and banned and the original fanfic remains. But in Twilight fic, if a story is plagiarised, the author takes the story off the internet and either refuses to send anyone a copy or posts it on a private account and makes everyone open an account and get 'approved access' from the author to read it (i.e. you will only be approved if you have left feedback for the story before and the author recognises your username). For one fic, there's actually a note that says: "Once you have access, do NOT discuss the fic ANYWHERE, nor are you to share it. EVER." It's just so over-the-top and dramatic... it's not like us fanfic writers have many legal rights anyway, since fanfiction is a often sore subject with published authors and TV/film writers.
It just makes me so angry that authors can be that self-righteous and selfish with their work (it's like they think that they have the right to choose who reads it... but it was posted on the internet where anyone can access it... and also that their work is in such demand that it's not safe to keep online because others will plagiarise it too). There have been two stories that I wanted to read that were pulled by the authors before I got a chance... when I emailed them to ask if I might be able to get a copy to read, one refused outright and said 'subscribe to my blog to see if it will be posted again in the future' and the other never even bothered to reply. There seems to be a general consensus in the Twi-fandom that no one should save or share copies of a story unless it has been approved by the author (but, of course, it seems that none of the authors will let you read it). I can understand pulling a story if you're going to re-work it for publishing and can't have it online anymore (although it does appear that a lot of Twilight fic writers think they can get published), but otherwise, I don't get it.
What does everyone else think? Should stories be pulled from the fandom just because someone tried to plagiarise them or flamed them? Is it right to withhold a story from readers who love it just because someone once tried to plagiarise it?