posted by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mitchy at 06:20pm on 01/05/2005
mitchy at 06:20pm on 01/05/2005http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank/693287.html#cutid2
This concerns an author who first of all commented on the number of paedophiles who are Trekkies. (It gets worse). If you read the above thread, you'll see fan fiction gets dragged into the mess.
And that's where I lose my temper.
I respect an author's right to his/her work, I do. I know famous authors are worried about being sued for stealing plots etc and that I understand too. But let's face it, the number of plagerism cases are very small and they will happen regardless of fan fiction or not. They have been happening for years and years and pre-date the Internet. What's changed is the proliferation of fan fiction. There's discussion and analysis, people bond together in communities.
This is bad? No. This will sustain interest in books and movies long after the series finishes or the books are out of print. I fail to see the bad. The Author loses no money and may well gain a far greater readership. No-one, least of all fan fiction writers, is suggesting fan fiction replaces or should be read instead of the original work. It's just a way for them to share in the wonderful world the author has created.
Yes, there is bad fan fiction. There's slash and chan and other stuff I can't name and have no desire to. So what? You think this never existed before? Beh.
I wouldn't mind, but one of the anti-fan fiction slammers is Keith Snyder, who's an author I've met and liked and a former regular on rec.arts.mystery. And I used to respect him. Now I want to dance round his books, having set them alight. (You can see his comments about half way down. Click on the "And all hell breaks loose" link to get the full post and subsequent comments).
Grrrr.
This concerns an author who first of all commented on the number of paedophiles who are Trekkies. (It gets worse). If you read the above thread, you'll see fan fiction gets dragged into the mess.
And that's where I lose my temper.
I respect an author's right to his/her work, I do. I know famous authors are worried about being sued for stealing plots etc and that I understand too. But let's face it, the number of plagerism cases are very small and they will happen regardless of fan fiction or not. They have been happening for years and years and pre-date the Internet. What's changed is the proliferation of fan fiction. There's discussion and analysis, people bond together in communities.
This is bad? No. This will sustain interest in books and movies long after the series finishes or the books are out of print. I fail to see the bad. The Author loses no money and may well gain a far greater readership. No-one, least of all fan fiction writers, is suggesting fan fiction replaces or should be read instead of the original work. It's just a way for them to share in the wonderful world the author has created.
Yes, there is bad fan fiction. There's slash and chan and other stuff I can't name and have no desire to. So what? You think this never existed before? Beh.
I wouldn't mind, but one of the anti-fan fiction slammers is Keith Snyder, who's an author I've met and liked and a former regular on rec.arts.mystery. And I used to respect him. Now I want to dance round his books, having set them alight. (You can see his comments about half way down. Click on the "And all hell breaks loose" link to get the full post and subsequent comments).
Grrrr.
angry
(no subject)
If anything, as the source is the main reference point and link between the readers, I would have thought it would constantly refresh interest in the originating material. I can see problems arising if someone takes someone else's originating premis and then writes something better/more popular.
The thing I find really irritating is the tone of the fanfic slammers. It sounds so resentful and whiney. And as for the trekkie/paedophile link, I'm just agog!
(no subject)
(no subject)
Maybe if you ever get to a B'con, we'll chat about it over drinks :) Truthfully, I haven't lost that much respect, I was just angry at the time.
(no subject)
I don't care whether anyone makes money from it or not; it's still unauthorized distribution. I won't go so far as to call it "theft," but it's inarguably using something that's not yours without asking first.
That aside, I don't have a beef with people writing fanfic (though anyone who got it into their head to use my characters would be in for whatever I could afford to throw at them). The big problem isn't the writing; it's the distributing.
That's my professional writer voice. In my individual human voice, it's a personal violation.