Quote:
Originally Posted by DaleDe
Fan Fics are not allowed in the eBooks section here at MobileRead. The reason given was that they are based on copyrighted characters and material which places them in a gray area of the law. Most often authors overlook this when the person writing the fanfic does not profit from the effort but occasionally someone will take issue with it. Good luck on your effort. Do not sell or profit from the effort or you might get the copyright police down on you.
Dale
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Well, that answers the last question. I can accept that. This is your forum and it is up to you as a community to set the standards for it as your experience and conscience sees fit.
The advise on profit is sound but it is something that is already ingrained in the culture of the fan production community. In the four years I've been reporting on Star Trek fan productions, I've not heard of one C&D (cease & desist) order being leveled at us precisely because we are a self-policing community. Some fan film groups have over ten years production invested in their work and they know that it could all be lost if one person or group, through ignorance or stupidity, were to force the studio to change their laissez faire attitude.
In fact the only C&D I've heard of in recent times has been
between LucasArts and a FanEdit (a video that has been edited by a fan to change the flow and content of the film) because it was insufficiently labeled as a fan production. Their problem was not one of profit - the FanEdit was not for sale - it was creative in that it was too like the original and Lucas didn't want any confusion between his own work and that of a fan. The C&D was lifted after stronger identification was placed on the cover.
Our problem might come from, not the copyright owner but their licensee, Pocket Books who are the only people who have the legal right to make hardback, paperback and eBooks based in the Star Trek "universe".
Some licensees have an almost symbiotic relationship with their fanbase especially the gaming fraternity where "mods" or extensions to the commercial games are not only allowed but encouraged to the extent where fan modification is part of the game itself! The experience here is that doing this increases the acceptance and longevity of the product ... the question is: is this something that would necessarily tempt the publishing industry? I would suggest yes.
Remember we are talking about eBooks here, not a movie or TV program with millions invested in development costs. I'm not trying to trivialise the production costs of publishers, far from it, in fact
I see eBooks as a way of publishers maintaining and extending on the income that they can expect from their production investment!
Let's consider a specific book,
John M Ford's classic tale, "
The Final Reflection". Published in 1984, you can now pick it up in most second-hand book shops for cents which means that, other than a reprinting in 2004 in tandem with Michael Jan Friedman's "Kahless", they have had virtually no revenue from this title in years. What if there were a demand for that book again, reckon they would print it? I doubt it. However an eBook edition of it will keep revenue coming in from this IP
without printing, warehousing or distribution costs - a classic example of
"The Long Tail", as espoused by
Chris Anderson, in action!
Whilst I respect your forum's ruling, and will abide by it by not listing our productions here, it is based on a lawyer's perception of the negative worth of fan productions to the commercial world, one that has no basis in the real world. Fan production generates and maintains fan interest in a franchise far beyond any perceived loss of revenue (and I have yet to see any evidence of any). We give them free, targeted publicity that they could not buy, publicity that they can capitalise on. What more could they ask for?
Could I at least get some feedback on the other aspects of our programme?
Regards
Kirok of L'Stok
Fan Production Curmudgeon
PS - By the way, gentlemen, could someone have the decency to explain why this post was moved from Uploading help to "Deals, Freebies, and Resources" when this has
absolutely nothing to do with commercial gain other than in the negative sense that there is not now, nor ever has been, any suggestion that any fan production has ever tried to make any?
I shall reserve further comment until I hear your reply. - K