I gotta make something clear -- because I just got a very sweet email from a woman in the midwest who's obviously very passionate about her fanfic, and insists that there are plenty of great stories that I would enjoy if I would just...
I'm not going to quote her, because it was pretty long and it doesn't need to be quoted to make this point:
Please don't send me fanfic. About any show. Ever.
Because I get paid to write, you see. And I never, ever, ever want to have to actually defend myself against accusations that I've stolen from fanwank. And now that I'm coming off a show with fan buzz, (Blood Ties) -- it's a real fear. I have not read fanfic -- any fanfic -- since I started getting paid to write TV. I can't, you see. And it's your fellow travellers that make that so.
(And I'm going to jump in and put in an edit here -- because I want to make it clear that I understand the enthusiasm. And I understand that most people who will go and write fiction based in a world they see on TV will do so because they love it. I get that. There's not a writer alive who wouldn't totally grok and love that enthusiasm. But that enthusiasm wanes when it starts to cause you problems.)
Doris Egan, who's probably one of the best hourlong writers out there right now, actually has fanfic people coming out and accusing her of taking from them on her blog. Follow the comments here.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the not-funny side of the funny little rant of a few days ago. If for no other reason, this is why fanfic -- all of it -- is a bad thing. Fanfic writers: so long as these deluded people are in your community, you should expect utter hostility from pro writers, everywhere.
Shame on you.
Accusing a writer of plagiarism is the most serious thing you can do. It is not cute. It is not funny. It is not just for fun.
So don't send me -- or any pro writer -- fanfic. Ever. What you're doing actually hurts the shows that you profess to love. I don't care if you're the biggest fan in the world. If you write fanfic, and tolerate the people who entertain fantasies that TV writers actually have the time to steal from you -- you are supporting libel. And that is not a hobby. That's a crime.
#netflixfkdup
44 minutes ago
10 rumbles:
actually as I recall, fan fics are technically a violation of copyright. so the writers of said stories could be sue. Which is why the real owners (in this case Tanya and the folks behind the show) wouldn't want anyone to admit to them or provide them proof that it's going on. so then they can be like Schulz and 'know nothing'
thanks Jaye, but this is all part of a bigger discussion. I acknowledge the copyright argument whilst stating that to me, that's not my issue. This is my issue. I'm not a lawyer. But you bet your ass the very thought that I could just be doing my job and have some idiot accuse me of stealing their badly written, derivative, easily extrapolatable from the source material idea -- you bet that makes me crazy.
But thanks for sharing.
I don't normally comment b/c I'm not a regular reader, only when you write something about Blood Ties. But I thought I would just throw you a little **applause** your way on this post. Very well said.
Personally I think you're being elitist, alarmist, condescending, and a bit of a baby.
Oh and welcome to the CBC, by the way.
Ok, here's the thing I don't get about fanfic...there are people, some with fairly great talent, who write this stuff, yet they go to their boring desk jobs and whine about how they hate their life. When they go home at night they sit in front of their computers and bang out 40, 50 chapters of fanfic that could, if it wasn't poached off of someone else's idea, be an extrememly good story in and of itself. Why, why, why put months of work into a tome that can bring nothing in the end accept the "adoration" of a few and the dismay of others? Why not write original works, publish and make money doing something they obviously enjoy and are a good at?
Yeah, sorry; gotta go with ouimet on this one. Which is a pity, since we see eye-to-eye on so many other things. But if you truly think your professional reputation can ever be damaged by the privileged complaints of a few illegal hobbyists--particularly in an industry this tiny/insular--I'm not sure how great a grasp you have on your own self-worth. Drop it, man.
Respeck, but the two of you are incredibly naive.
Writers and especially writer showrunners are already largely proscribed from being able to touch or even look at anything that's submitted to them without a huge legal waiver signed by the person signing away their rights of redress. That litigious framework is in place.
If Doris Egan is worried (and she is) and Joe Stracynski was worried in the B5 days (and he was); so am I.
There will be a lawsuit someday, filed by some demented fanficcer. And yes, one would hopefully think it would get thrown out of court quickly. But it will be unpleasant and long and stressful for the writer anyway -- and if they happen to be in the middle of a production season, it will be a serious and unnecessary distraction. You can afford to be cavalier about it. I can't. So while your glibness is noticed, on this side, I'm afraid I'll side with the cautious and not depend upon the reasonable nature of strangers on the frickin internet.
Law suits suck.
couldn't spec scripts be thought of as just a form of fan fiction?
we still like spec scripts, right? or are you just railing against sending "fanfic" to writers specifically?
Spec scripts are never, ever shown to anyone working on the show in question. If the PA opening the post this morning receives a script for your show, it goes in the round file so fast you'll never know it was even in the office.
No questions asked.
No reading done.
It's the Caesar's Wife Principle. In a litigious culture, you have to be above suspicion.
And there's another question lurking here, which is often thought by those attempting to break into the business, and that's: Hey, do showrunners rip off people writing specs?
And the answer is: No, they don't.
But there are crazed amateur spec-writers who think they do. We can do without crazed amateur fanfic-writers doing the same.
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