can we please stop selling fanfic?

[@trashraccoon2635]

man people should stop trying to make money off fanfic. obviously there should be discussion over why fanfic isn't ok to monetize but fanart generally gets a pass, and there also should be discussion about making fanfics for donation events (the one i know of is gotcha for gaza, where donators give money for gaza and submit prompts for fics and/or art, and volunteers fulfill the prompts) cause i'm honestly unsure about the legalities of those things even though i participate in one. but Not Making Money is literally the one single defense that keeps fanfic communities alive and well.

[@NoelleTakestheSky]

You may not realize this, but many, if not most, stories start off as some form of fanfic. And removing the fingerprints, like changing names, locations, and ages, is known as scrubbing the serial numbers off.

[@adorp]

Yeah except JRRT wasn't constantly horny while writing LOTR. He didn't even scrub his work because he was confident that he had enough originality.

[@pkmnkingx]

This situation is very much something that can get out of hand just like you said, if we start trying to sell fanfiction and laywers get involved it's gonna just get out of hand so this type of stuff does put fics and fic culture in general in danger which would really suck

[@KearaBenton]

what's been so interesting to me especially with these book binders is that it's almost never even the fanfic author themself selling the work for money! it's some totally unrelated person taking someone else's fanfic work and selling it for their own profit. and some of them just straight up know it's wrong and do not care. a couple years ago there was a bout of people ripping works off of Wattpad (and possibly elsewhere, I'm not sure my work was only on Wattpad at the time) and selling them on Kindle Unlimited - but that was at least on a much smaller scale and was a bit easier to contain. it just sucks and it really does go back to your point about consumerism - like WHY do people feel the need to monetize something that is free?

[@WishGender]

the problem is that I think there might be a legal loophole where they legally categorize their store as selling the service of printing/binding the book rather than selling the book itself.

[@KearaBenton]

@@WishGender hmmmm an interesting question. I’ll be honest I do not know enough about the legality but I think it would still come down to profiting off of fan work - or at the very least that has the potential for a solid legal case if an author was to sue which I could see happening somewhere down the line.

[@mzcyberbat]

Some people get commitions like the artists do. A person wants something and is willing to pay another person for their time. If buying a licence to sell fanfic was affordable and possible I think people go for it. I hope cases like these are few and far between because we only get fanfic because no money is made from it. Otherwise they might crack down on it and we all miss out on wonderful stories.

[@elisabete5492]

It really surprises me that there's people out there selling socmed fanfic aus on twitter

[@WishGender]

honestly I just think all fan works should be free and open source. All of it. Art, games, writing, everything. If you're making something as a way to connect to a community, you should use the license that reflects that. Although, I do think it's worth pointing out that there are definitely culture differences in terms of the legality of fan works, especially in Southeast Asian countries like Japan and China

[@DiamondsandDevils]

Oof, people selling fan fiction is sooooo bad! Didn't realize people were doing this. That being said, I love changing my fan fiction by replacing everything with my own world/OCs. It's a really fun way to write.

[@dejahdanger]

I haven’t wrote anything in years, but I started writing fanfic over 20 years ago and I would hate to see it scrubbed. It’s such a great way for authors to practice writing and get feedback and often provides POVs that the original creator never explored. Great video, looking forward to more of your content. 🫶🏻

[@renfrances]

totally agreed!! thank you 🫶🏻

[@WishGender]

I would argue that fanfic can be considered to have been around since the rise of ancient polytheism. The way Greek mythology became so extensive is because people would add on their own stuff when retelling it.

[@a-supernova-girl]

Absolutely agree people should not sell fanfiction, but also...rest in piss, Anne Rice >_< Like, honestly, I don't want people who read my fics to give me money, I just want them to comment :/

[@B.McMuffin]

I didn't know selling fanfic was illegal. I myself read the Rhysands POV thru a website for free and then saw the author selling the files on Etsy for $5 a "book". So when I seen ppl on TikTok selling the already bound books, for the prices they were selling em for I just decided to make it for myself.

[@renfrances]

making it for yourself is totally fine because there’s no profit made there!! :)

[@CatBeans91]

As a person who wants to be a published author one day, and a person who has also written fanfic, the worst thing anyone can do is try to make money off fanfic. Go write your own thing if you want to make money. LOL because if I published my original works and found out someone was trying to cash in on fanfic they wrote about my characters...yikes dude, I'd be pretty pissed. I wouldn't be mad if they wrote fanfic, obviously, but trying to make money off my creation? No way, man. And fanfic is such a fun thing to just share with your friends. It's silly, it's delightful, and sometimes it's SUPER well written and you think: dang that should be published. But we're even luckier that we can just enjoy it and share in the idea of a different universe, or certain characters living instead of dying...like, let's just keep the free fanfic vibes going before it all gets shut down LOL

[@liquidwood4064]

hey, not sure if this is just a glitch on my end, but after the video ends there's like fifteen minutes of a black screen? what's that about? other than that I totally agree, I feel like lot of people who are new to fanfic aren't really aware of the etiquette and culture surrounding it. I've seen a few people refer to more popular fanfics as "books" and critiquing them like published works.

[@renfrances]

that was my bad! i’ve edited it out now 😁 i agree, i think the understanding of where fanfic comes from and how to consume is has definitely dwindled (a lot of it due to tiktok) so i think it’s important to talk about it now more than ever

[@Anna133199]

When you say it's super illegal to sell your fanfic, what countries' laws are you talking about? An issue with copyright law is that it's different in every country, and what's illegal to sell in one, may not be illegal in another.

[@renfrances]

its super illegal in the majority of countries (especially countries where fanfic is the most popular). you cant profit from someone else’s work, thats pretty standard everywhere and selling fanfiction is doing exactly that so its better to keep it something we access for free so we dont infringe on those laws.

[@kerricaine]

mostly north america and the UK. other countries like china and japan get really murky sometimes lol. japan especially has a lot of "rules for thee, not for me" when it comes to fan creations and profits, where they'll crack down on international fans but allow native artists to sell fan comics

[@WishGender]

@@kerricaineyeah the way I had it explained to me is that in Japan, if the creator of the original content is okay with fan works being made and sold, then fan works can be made and sold in Japan and the law doesn't get involved (wouldn't recommend trying it outside Japan tho). I think a lot of it might come from the way Japan is a more group based society rather than being individualistic.

[@Beatlelover21]

I agree that people need to stop selling fan fiction because it’s illegal, but I feel like there are a lot of blurred lines. People make and sell fan art constantly, maybe not on a mass production scale, but enough to sell at conventions. Literature is also an art. What’s the legal difference between selling fan art and selling fan fiction? /gen. I also wonder what the difference is between a commissioned fan fiction and a fan fiction someone wrote and then wants to try and sell to masses. /gen

[@renfrances]

selling fanart is also quite illegal (unless commissioned by the author/original creator themselves) but it just seems to be totally overlooked that it is. commissioned art/fic from anyone other than the original creator is defo illegal even if it’s not being sold to the masses

[@Beatlelover21]

@@renfrances that’s so crazy, especially since there are SO many artists making a living off of fan art at conventions and what not.

[@dustdust9508]

Youre pretty af and i love your voice+accent, 🎉