Fanfic: Threat, or menace?

[thebitterguy]

Ladies and Gentlemen, today on People on the Internet getting Angry about Stuff, we present Robin Hobb, famed author of something. Apparently, Ms. Hobb doesn't like fanfic, so she has taken valuable writing time to let us all know.

You know, it's amusing. I don't like fanfic either. If you'd like to lubricate my brain with delicious alcohol sometime, I'll be happy to tell you about the time I was trapped in a hotel on the outskirts of Lansing, Michigan at Media*West (what is the opposite of a sausage fest, kids?), and the horrors I experienced within. You'll never be able to see a rerun of The Sentinel

I also agree with her that FanFic probably stifles a great deal of a writer's creativity. I have a dear friend who is quite a prolific fanfic writer. I've pled with them to try creating their own worlds and characters. No, they reply, I'm not very good at that.

Jesus, it's like being a baseball player who can run bases very well, but can't hit the ball. Learning to hit the ball isn't always easy, but it's part of the package. So put the metaphorical rubber rings on your metaphorical Louisville Slugger, and swing away. Dammit.

However, past that point, I diverge with her, in that I don't care. Okay, I do get to do this from the lofty position of a someone who is not a Published Author who must Fight Tooth and Nail to Defend her Vital Intellectual Property.

I am not someone who cares about trademarks or copyright, really, since I have none of my own to defend. I can't, at this moment, tell you which one needs to be defended, which ones need to be registered, or any of the other related quirks of IP law. I can't even tell you if game rules can be copywrited. Copywritten. Protected under copyright law. Copywrite law? Crap, I'm zoning. It's pumpkins all over again.

Anyway. Apparently Robin Hobb has gotten angry, and others have gotten angry back. I try very hard to be interested, but this is way out of my monkeysphere.

Comments

[adamjury.livejournal.com]

Any time an artist can spend attempting to protect their IP is time they could better spend improving and expanding their IP.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Getting worked up over other people writing fanfic is like getting worked up over an Amazon.com review. Who the fuck is this woman anyway? I've never heard of her or her books; does she actually HAVE fanfic or does the basic concept just piss her off?

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Also, for the record, the inverse of a sausage fest is a donut fest. Officially. It's in the OED. Really.

[ludickid.livejournal.com]

I pretty much totally hate fan fiction, and that's still the lamest, dumbest thing I've ever read.

[artbroken.livejournal.com]

She's written about 10 fantasy novels that have sold very well.

I don't care for her work, but she's put in the hard yards, no doubt.

[rickj.livejournal.com]

Also, any time an artist spends fiddling in another's IP is time they could better spend developing their own IP. (Except for Work For Hire deals, where they're at least developing their craft, which is the excuse I hear many fanfic writers give.)

[luciancarter.livejournal.com]

This ignores the state of modern writing. The best opportunities for many writers these days are TV scripts, film script, syndicated novels etc. which will often involve precisely what fan fiction entails: working within the confines of someone else's IP. Learning to write for another's created world is actually a highly valueable skill for those seeking to work as writers, as opposed to writers seeking to create works.

I recall Lita Fajo at TTrek pointing out the best way to write a script for Star Trek (Voyager was the only active show at the time) was to [b]write a script for Star Trek and submit it on spec[/b]. Fan fiction practices exactly those skills.

[redeem147.livejournal.com]

I, of course, write and enjoy fanfic, and don't think the woman in question has. Not the good stuff, anyway. So :P

I'd rather read some good Spuffy than crap fantasy any day.

Yes, feel free to mock. Tough beans.

To me fanfic is the literary equivalent of community theatre.

[adamjury.livejournal.com]

Now, actually having read part of the article, I can say without a doubt that this woman is actually pretty ignorant about fan fiction and the people that write it.

At the extreme low end of the spectrum, fan fiction becomes personal masturbation fantasy in which the fan reader is interacting with the writer’s character. That isn’t healthy for anyone.

Yeah, like she's never jerked off.

[jadasc.livejournal.com]

I can't even tell you if game rules can be copywrited. Copywritten. Protected under copyright law. Copywrite law? Crap, I'm zoning. It's pumpkins all over again.

1. Copyrighted, or protected under copyright law. It's literally "the right to copy," if you want a mnemonic.

2. Game rules cannot be put under copyright; this is why WotC wanted to go to the lengths of patenting the mechanics used in their TCGs. (You can patent a process if it's original.) Game texts, like fiction, can be placed under copyright.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Well, my point is, this isn't exactly Rick Berman or Joss Whedon throwing a hissy-fit over this issue. I honestly don't see why she's so worked up over this. Nobody's charging any money and provided there's the standard "I don't own these characters blah blah blah" up front, it's legal. Probably any fanfic set in her universe will be taken down once her preferences are clear.

Railing against fanfic just strikes me as wasted effort.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and Mary Sues are a valuable resource of geek comedy.

[creativedv8tion.livejournal.com]

I think this is the most telling part:

To me, it is the fan fiction writer saying, “Look, the original author really screwed up the story, so I’m going to fix it. Here is how it should have gone.”

She's insecure about her own stories. It's right there. What kind of author is so insecure that she'll take offense to fanfic?

Hell, doesn't she have any idea that people read her books and say that anyways, w/o writing fanfic? Any author, no matter whom, cannot please everyone, and geeks will argue and discuss and debate what should have been done differently.

Stupid fucking twat. I just got soured on the idea of ever reading anything by her (and honestly, I had considered it.)

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

Yikes. See, fanfic writers and readers have known about Robin Hobb for a while (and Anne McCaffrey and Anne Rice, for the record). But the most appalling thing about this article making the rounds is that all the geeks who don't like fanfic have suddenly felt brave enough to mock the ones who do.

[waiwode.livejournal.com]

I've always been that brave. I understand Hobb's position, but don't really feel empowered by it.

Mostly I just register my protests against fanfic by avoiding the stuff like the plague.

Doug.

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

Mostly I just register my protests against fanfic by avoiding the stuff like the plague.

There's nothing wrong with that. That's how people with different opinions get along with each other -- by not flinging mud when it's not important.

There's also nothing wrong with saying "I don't like (X)", as long as you don't go as far as "people who do like (X) are losers".

[creativedv8tion.livejournal.com]

There's nothing "sudden" about those of us who disdain fanfic making fun of it, or those who do.

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's how widely or how loudly it's done that changed, then. People who didn't appear to have any public opinions on it before are now gleefully spewing their opinions, just like the jocks made fun of their RPGs and stamp collections when they were teenagers.

[creativedv8tion.livejournal.com]

Mayhaps, or it could be that fanfic has gotten more attention as more people are drawn into it and as more sub-sects of geek culture get more mainstream notice by the masses.

Who knows.

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but I'm not hearing this from 'the masses', it's geeks who are saying it. It's people who are already aware of all the oddball sects and subfandoms, and who are usually content to live and let live.

[creativedv8tion.livejournal.com]

Well, obviously, you haven't been listening to all the geeks in all the world, b/c not only is that impossible, but then you'd also have been exposed to people laughing at fanfic before now.

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

I've definitely been exposed to it. It's just closer to home than it was before, because of specific people I'm hearing it from now.

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

And I also just think it's a bit of a vicious circle when geeks do that kind of thing to other geeks in public. I don't care if it's been going on for a long time, I think it's a crappy attitude and I don't mind saying so.

[creativedv8tion.livejournal.com]

*shrugs*

There's not, nor has there ever been, any kind of sacred brotherhood of geekdom that keeps geeks from mocking other types of geekdom they don't understand/approve of/like.

[creativedv8tion.livejournal.com]

Well, I didn't address anything about specific geeks of your acquaintance suddenly speaking up. You made a comment about "all the geeks who don't like fanfic have suddenly felt brave enough to mock the ones who do."

But, anyways, whatever.