because it was okay when we were all doing something "not exactly legal, but causing no harm so no one bothered us".
Right. Of course, the problem with that is that we are existing at the sufferance of the copyright holders, who can shut us down (or at least drive us underground) if they decide they don't like what we're doing.
On a purely practical level, though, the amount of tolerance that they have for us is high enough that it really doesn't matter if it's "legal" or "acceptable" or "legitimate" in any way. Fanfic was easy enough to find when I first started stumbling across it in 1997(?), and it's even easier to find now.
The main reason why I yearn for a little more "legitimacy" is because it's frustrating having to keep my fanfic persona separate from my real life persona. I always used to use my real name online until I started posting fanfic; my earliest fanfic was posted under my real name as well, but I switched to "Sholio" (a character from one of my original stories) because I didn't want my name coming up in Google searches attached to fanfic. I hate the idea that I have to keep being careful for fear of having publishers discover my fanfic. On the other hand, I've been wondering lately how much of a danger it really is. In years past, I've heard about a few fanfic writers who had to sign contracts promising not to post fanfic online or to take their fanfic down in order to get book publishing deals. I don't like that idea. But I know of enough people now who write fanfic and simultaneously publish novels (albeit under different noms de plume) that I'm a lot less worried about it than I used to be.
And I'm certainly not unhappy with how things are right now. Being able to post my fanfic and my original fiction at the same journal without worrying about negative effects on my writing career would be awesome. But it's more like the icing on the cake that I already have than the whole cake, if that makes any sense. I've already got a lot of freedom as a fanwriter and I would hate to lose some of that freedom because a small group of fans are seeking to gain rights we don't currently have. I'd say we have more to lose than to gain from raising our public profile, because at this point we seem to be thriving "under the radar" and I'm not sure how much is really to be gained anyway through a group of fanficcers seeking more widespread attention.
On the other hand, like I mentioned earlier, I do think the attention is being focused on the fanfic community whether we want it or not. At least through OTW, it's mostly positive attention (at this point) as opposed to the sort of attention that we'd get if we ended up with a really skanky test case.
Re: Rambling and reminiscing... (part 1)
Right. Of course, the problem with that is that we are existing at the sufferance of the copyright holders, who can shut us down (or at least drive us underground) if they decide they don't like what we're doing.
On a purely practical level, though, the amount of tolerance that they have for us is high enough that it really doesn't matter if it's "legal" or "acceptable" or "legitimate" in any way. Fanfic was easy enough to find when I first started stumbling across it in 1997(?), and it's even easier to find now.
The main reason why I yearn for a little more "legitimacy" is because it's frustrating having to keep my fanfic persona separate from my real life persona. I always used to use my real name online until I started posting fanfic; my earliest fanfic was posted under my real name as well, but I switched to "Sholio" (a character from one of my original stories) because I didn't want my name coming up in Google searches attached to fanfic. I hate the idea that I have to keep being careful for fear of having publishers discover my fanfic. On the other hand, I've been wondering lately how much of a danger it really is. In years past, I've heard about a few fanfic writers who had to sign contracts promising not to post fanfic online or to take their fanfic down in order to get book publishing deals. I don't like that idea. But I know of enough people now who write fanfic and simultaneously publish novels (albeit under different noms de plume) that I'm a lot less worried about it than I used to be.
And I'm certainly not unhappy with how things are right now. Being able to post my fanfic and my original fiction at the same journal without worrying about negative effects on my writing career would be awesome. But it's more like the icing on the cake that I already have than the whole cake, if that makes any sense. I've already got a lot of freedom as a fanwriter and I would hate to lose some of that freedom because a small group of fans are seeking to gain rights we don't currently have. I'd say we have more to lose than to gain from raising our public profile, because at this point we seem to be thriving "under the radar" and I'm not sure how much is really to be gained anyway through a group of fanficcers seeking more widespread attention.
On the other hand, like I mentioned earlier, I do think the attention is being focused on the fanfic community whether we want it or not. At least through OTW, it's mostly positive attention (at this point) as opposed to the sort of attention that we'd get if we ended up with a really skanky test case.
More to come in the next part...