Womens' fiction, advertising, and FanLib.com

[proggrrl]

I've been following a couple of big conversations via metafandom for a while now and wanted to put my hat in the ring.

The first of those discussions has been about fanfic and why women writers flock to it...how it feeds a supposed inability for said women writers to become wealthy succesful writers...the so called "ghetto" of fanfic as a "trap" for women that supports keeping them from profiting from their work, etc.

I have mixed feelings about this myself, in that it seems like a no-brainer to me that if you choose to create fiction using someone else's characters, you cannot expect to profit.  Fanfic by it's very nature is an act of love, of "wallowing in one's favorite fictions" and characters.  If you are not hired to write ProFic, you are a FanFic writer.  I was shouted down a few times about this, by folks who chose to mention the small handful of exceptions to this rule.  And believe me, in the span of fandoms, this is a small list of properties that are in the public domain (although Jane Austen's work seems to be included and of course that's a big deal).

But what does this have to do with the gigantic fandoms for Harry Potter, anime, Star Trek, and on and on?  From where I sit, the majority of fanfic (and all fanart) is focused on these copywritten properties.  So I will stick to my guns on this one.

Meanwhile the worm has turned and now the hivemind (of which I am proud to be a member) is focusing on the recently launched FanLib.com.  I can certainly appreciate the turmoil this is causing.

It does seem a tad, um, CRIMINAL to start a site that seeks to monetize the fanfic writers and audience.  It is notable that all the people behind FanLib are men.  It is also notable, however, that FanFiction.net is covered with advertising as well.  In fact, I have noticed a marked uptick in the number of ads I have to get through on that latter site recently.  Is traffic up on that site, I wonder?

From the perspective of the businessMEN who have started FanLib, there is no difference between FanLib, YouTube or any of the other content-sharing platforms out there who drive business via advertising.

Because FanLib is making deals with the content owners (book publishers and film/TV content creators), they are being allowed to monetize fiction that technically is not legal.  Some metafandom folks are also arguing that no legal precedent has yet been set in court to say that it is DEFINITIVELY ILLEGAL, however.  Content creators up to now have welcomed the fanfic, seeing it (rightly) as yet another way to galvanize and grow the fandom for their content.  FanLib is seeking to push this a bit further, using fanfic more openly as a marketing tool. 

To me this is a good thing - fanfics and fanvids and fanart are ABSOLUTELY a good thing for content creators.  They are free marketing, no matter how you slice it.  There is no downside.  Even the smuttiest, slashiest, porniest fanart is good for the bottom line - it keeps fans, it makes new fans...by any means necessary.  MGM's recent heinous decision to pull all the Stargate fanvids off of YouTube was a really stupid move (which I suppose they think they "fixed" by putting up that giant section on SciFi.com for fan memories and whatnot - NOOOOOO that's not gonna fix the damage MGM!).

It is no surprise that fanart scares the Legacy content creators & owners - you let your content loose on the world, and fandom takes it and does what it wants to do with it.  You lose control over it.  It bounces back at you, filtered through fandom - and maybe it's a little...Reimagined.  Mutated.  Transmogrified.  But the fans will keep coming back for more canon as well.

I am actually hoping that sites like FanLib might help along the seachange that needs to happen: the Entertainment and Publishing Industries need to further welcome and embrace fanart.  It is all part of the YOU MEDIA movement that most businesses are embracing now. These days there are many glimmers of hope on this front...that Big Media is coming around.  I remain hopeful.

Meanwhile, the FanLib conversation has led to discussion of starting a fan-run multi-fandom web site, and volunteers are needed.  I  suppose that, if the traffic got large enough, advertising placements would follow on this site as well.  Perhaps enough $$ could be made to hire some staff to manage the site and grow it.  If FanLib.com and FanFiction.net can do it, why can't fandom do it too?

Comments

[teh-no.livejournal.com]

It is notable that all the people behind FanLib are men.

Why is this notable? Shouldn't it be more notable that we're dealing with people from outside fandom trying to, in some way, "legitimize" fandom? What does their gender have to do with it?

[auronlu.livejournal.com]

It's just a little weird, since the majority of fanfic writers are women. Not very representative of the community they're claiming to be a part of.

[proggrrl.livejournal.com]

Yes that's the point of what I said above.

Although, let me play devil's advocate just for fun here: why should businesspeople need to be part of the community? If they see a business-need and want to fill the gap for us, why not let them?

I am assuming that the FanLib people think they are doing us a favor with this site, because they are trying to link the content-owners and the fandom creative community in a new way.

[proggrrl.livejournal.com]

Well auronlu kindly explained what I was getting at below.

But also: YES, it is even MORE notable that businessmen from outside the community are seeking this profit from our hobby. It is especially biting that this is launching just as the metafandom/LJ community is hotly debating why fanfic writers cannot break out and earn a living from this type of fiction. Ironic, really.

But let's not pretend that gender is a non-issue here, teh_no. If a bunch of female ProFic writers and businesswomen started FanLib, and had at least one BFF on their board, I wonder if the LJ/fandom response would've been the same?

[teh-no.livejournal.com]

If a bunch of female ProFic writers and businesswomen started FanLib, and had at least one BFF on their board

But the keywords there are ProFic and BNF. At least it should be.

There... are male BNFs, right?

[proggrrl.livejournal.com]

But the keywords there are ProFic and BNF. At least it should be.
There... are male BNFs, right?

Yes - I would say that this issue (pro vs hobbyist) is at the core of our discussions. With the gender issue subordinate but of major concern. I tend towards fandoms where women are most definitely the majority, but I never meant to suggest that there are no male BNFs, natch.

[angelhunter.livejournal.com]

FanLib is just one more "get rich by letting other people do the work" scheme. What is especially disgusting here is the added stance of "oh, btw, we will make all the profit, but you will shoulder all the risk! *bwahahaha*"

I won't touch this with a ten-billion kilometres long pole. Nope.

[proggrrl.livejournal.com]

This is definitely a good defensive stance to consider.

That said, I'm still not convinced that the "at your own risk" clause is anything more than some boilerplate legalese FanLib decided they had to have on the site somewhere to protect themselves.

I am really not sure that we should all get too worried about this - mainly because TPTB have never come after fanfiction before. What makes you think they will come after it now?

All the sites that house fanfiction...no matter who hosts them...if you follow this line of thought to its conclusion - aren't all those sites at risk of being named in a lawsuit if some content creator decided to eradicate fanfiction for their content?

[dragonfly]

Hey, sorry to crash, I'm here from metafandom. Like lots of us, I've been combing through posts and poking around fanlib's site, and I've got a question I haven't found the answer to. Their TOS aside, how is what fanlib is doing different than what fanfictionnet does? It doesn't look like fanlib charges you to post or to read; their revenue would only be from ads? I think? Or did I overlook something. I'm pretty sure that's what fanfictionnet does, too. I know not everyone utilizes Pit of Voles, but it's not been condemned widely by fandom. Fanfictionnet has a TOS, too, and it doesn't look (to my untrained eye) all that friendly to users, either.

I'm not trying to defend them, truly; I'm just hoping to understand better what their crime is. How are they different than fanfictionnet?

[proggrrl.livejournal.com]

I am sort of with you on this mojave, in that I do not see a big difference, other than the fact that FanLib appears to be courting the involvement of the content owners. FanFiction.net does not appear to do this.

Why is there a huge ruckus about FanLib right now? Perhaps it is the timing of their launch, and the fact that they are being much more aggressive than FF.net (in their site design, the way they reached out to a bunch of BNFs, etc).

Whatever the reasons, and whatever the differences, fanfic writers and consumers should definitely be discussing these issues. It would be nice if fanfic writers could monetize the traffic to their stories - rather than provide traffic to the sites of other businesspersons. I hope this conversation successfully launches a fandom-run commercial site. *crosses fingers*

[lyore.livejournal.com]

I tried to answer you before, but LJ ate my comment, and then I lost this post (obviously, I found it again), but I ended posting about this here:
http://lyore.livejournal.com/51868.html#cutid1

Sorry for not answering this here, but your question made me think, it got kinda long and turned into a mini-essay. Hope it helps clarify the way I see the situation, anyway.

[dragonfly]

Thanks for tracking me down. Good essay.