Money and Fanfiction · 12:36am Jul 16th, 2015
A note before we begin; this is not intended to critique or disparage people who do accept money for their fanfic/fanwork; like all my musings posts, it is merely a public exploration of my own thoughts. It is intended to provoke discussion, not to insult or denigrate.
Today’s meandering musings post is about a subject I have wanted to address for a long time. And yet, it’s one that I’m still considering my feelings for.
The more time I spend on FIMfic, the more I start to wonder about what place money has in the world of fanfiction. After the recent charlie foxtrot of Steam charging for mods, the question is more relevant than ever (for those who missed it, George Weidman did a good summary of the debacle).
It’s the same situation as for fanfiction, really: a creative endeavor that alters existing property, and is traditionally free in order to avoid legal problems. Yet fanfiction is so much more nebulous that it hasn’t gotten the same level of attention. Fans have printed books of prominent fics with no legal ramifications (yet). Amazon’s Kindle Worlds hasn’t received nearly as much attention or backlash as Steam despite having an even less fair cut (80% to Steam’s 75%). Some authors ask to have their worlds blacklisted from fanfiction.net, but they remain a small minority, often showing up on other sites anyway.
It’s a complex, multi-layered situation, but I generally see fanfiction authors ask for money in one of three ways;
* Paypal donations (either to the author or to a charity)
* Patreon (generally per story or chapter, with extremely varying rewards)
* Commissions (writing and/or editing)
They each have their advantages and disadvantages; I won't go into those here, that could fill its own post. I have considered using all three at different points in time, to be honest. Any one of them would help make a dent, however small, in my student debts. Yet, whenever I consider asking my readers for money, I never end up doing it.
In a capitalist society, money is everything. It affects where you sleep, what you eat, how you live. We are at a unique point in time, because the internet has created new ways to earn money. Things like Kickstarter, Patreon, Indiegogo, Steam, and Youtube ads have created products and careers that could not have existed at any point in the past. One my professors once said that 90 percent of children will work in a job that has not been invented yet, and every year that prediction becomes more and more accurate.
I don’t know why, but I like the idea that at least one of my hobbies has no monetary value attached to it. Perhaps it’s the guilt that comes of asking others for money, or the American social more against asking for “handouts”, or the idea that accepting money for it might affect my creative output somehow. Perhaps it might be that even popular authors with Patreon/donation pages can struggle to earn significant money from it. Whatever it may be, I like the idea that when I write fanfiction or edit a pony story, no money is involved.
Perhaps that is selfish or naive or backwards in its own way. I like to think of myself as forward-thinking. I find traditionalism to be destructive and counter-intuitive most of the time. Yet my reluctance to involve money in fanfiction is nothing but traditional; I wouldn't think twice about asking money from a publisher or magazine that bought one of my stories.
Perhaps some day I’ll understand the situation better and change my position. Perhaps someday Steam and Kindle Worlds will wise up and find a better arrangement that lets everyone profit fairly, and the point will be moot. Who can say. Until then, you can continue not giving me any money.
There have been fan novels which have, in fact, resulted in lawsuits. Lost ones, even. Of course, they would generally be called "unauthorized sequels", but in the end, that's what fanfiction is.
Well, a lot of it, anyway.
The reality is that the companies could clamp down on it hardcore if they wanted to. It is simply mostly not to their advantage to do so, because people simply make too little money from fanfiction to be worth suing. And in any case, most of it is small-scale enough that a lawsuit would be counterproductive; the Streisand Effect is a real thing.
If someone sold a hundred thousand copies of a fanfiction work, though, I bet there'd be a lawsuit.
I just don't feel comfortable accepting money for horsewords. I'm not sure if it's concern about legal issues or some deep-seated insecurity that makes me think my work isn't worth paying for, but either way, the idea of setting up a Patreon yields a visceral unease.
So, yeah, you definitely have company in this regard.
If EL James can sell her twilight fanfiction, 50 shades of grey, then you can sell your fanfictions. Just make up new names for your characters and change the situation a bit and you're good. I don't see any problem using the greek and roman mythology that MLP is using as their mythos as something that hasbro can really copyright. In terms of selling fanfiction I really don't think that using the characters from the show is really important. The situation presented is the important part. So just make your own group of friends in a real roman times with some of the stigma and old-time beliefs but it is actually modern or near-modern times and you're set! Its not directly a fanfiction anymore.
There was a story I read a long time ago and I can't remember what it was called but it was a religious Christian story. Basically a snake sneaks into the chicken coop(heaven). The snake eats all of the eggs(divine goods) then falls asleep. The farmer finds the snake resting in the chicken coop. As the snake wakes up the farmer beats (satan) it to death with a club.
Sorry if this makes me look like a stupid asshole, it is because I am. If making money on fanfictions feels morally wrong to you, don't do it. There are other ways to make money. However, It is your option to slither on the ground like a snake that stole the chicken's eggs, just like EL James.
I don't feel comfortable accepting money for fanfiction, which is a handy reason for why I don't do commissions. Profiting off of other people's work, however, is completely acceptable in my mind. :V
Also, I really want Amazon Worlds to expand. :(
3241662 To my understanding, companies did clamp down on things like Tijuana bibles--the things were often involved in police seizures.
On the other hand, there have been things like With Strings Attached which have been for sale for a long time and been left alone.
As I understand it, real legal problems generally come not from scale or the amount of money involved, but in brand identity. That's why My Little Pony: Fighting Is Magic got stopped (rightfully so); it was so close to the original product that Hasbro and their lawyers were worried about it misrepresenting their IP.
3241677 My issues with monetization don't really stem from the legal problems. It's more of an ideological one. I don't like the idea of being paid for amateur work, for something that doesn't ultimately belong to me.
As mentioned in the blog, this might be an excessively traditionalist or naive way of thinking, but that's publishing for you.
3241786 This brings up an important point; where is the line between inspiration and unauthorized use? The main six are all archetypal characters, the power of friendship is a common trope, and the mythological elements of the show are (as you said) often cribbed from Greek myth.
I actually did consider rewriting one of my stories (Battery) as an original story and attempting to submit it to a scifi mag or somesuch. But that story doesn't quite work outside the context of ponies; the main plot point is siphoning magic, and it wouldn't work quite the same in a setting with humans. This doesn't apply to all fanfiction, of course, but I've always felt that good fanfic capitalizes on its strengths. Pre-existing familiarity with a setting and characters gives advantages and disadvantages in equal measure. If a story can be reworked to work outside the context of fanfic, fine, but that often takes as much or more work than writing a story from scratch would. It's not quite the same as asking money for fanfiction directly
3241943 Well, I would argue that analysis is rather different than fanfiction. They both involve other people's intellectual property and effort. One owns their own analysis completely, however, whereas the same can't be said of fanfiction. There are some similarities, but Fair Use specifically mentions reporting, teaching, et. al. in its definitions.
Until Amazon Worlds changes its monetary splits to a fair amount, I'll never be interested in it. Taking 80 cents of every dollar is pointlessly greedy; they'll never attract enough good writers with such unfair practices.
I find it odd that when paying for a piece of art that includes ponies, that the fic it is attached to is less valued.
Art really shouldn't be in a different category.
I'd personally like to see the whole copyright thing change with regard to fan works. Have it set up as a set percentage by law and allow profits to happen regardless of the medium.
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It would be nice if instead of ads, you had a set amount added to the price of internet service ($20 per month, or 20%, whichever is lower) which was pooled and went to content providers by some popularity formula. (Ads would be allowed but if you used them the amount you got from the pool would diminish)
3241960
Some years ago, someone wrote an unauthorized sequel to The Catcher in the Rye and its publication was banned in the US. There have been other cases as well.
In reality, the legality is pretty much a case-by-case basis. Some things are obviously legal (Cupcakes, Friendship is Manly), others are obviously illegal (Button's Adventures), others exist in a legal gray area.
3242057
That wouldn't work. The purpose of copyright is to allow people to make exclusive profit off their own works, and to have control over them. Without exclusive control, large corporations could easily just rip you off.
3242135
Actually if a large corporation ran with your idea, you would make much more money than you would in most "fair" deals.
3242302
Someone already did.
3241980
They would attract me if they included IPs I gave a damn about. :B Not that you don't have a point.