Fannish Ettiquette, Stealing, and Other Shite: A Rant by Ashinae

I'm sorry to anybody who may have already seen it -- I thought there might be some people who would want to read this, despite the fact that I don't think I'm saying anything that hasn't been seen before. But this doesn't appear to have shown up on anybody's friendslist but my own. Wonder if I accidentally set it to private? Hmm. Anyway -- here goes, one more time.

Instead of sleeping like I normally do, I spent my train ride into Toronto composing this. I considered not posting it, but, dammit, the pants don't make me feel any better, so I am typing this up and posting it. And I am not putting this behind an LJ-cut. Cope. There aren't any pictures, no quizzes. Deal with it.

I have noticed that there has been a great deal posted about fan theft in the SV fandom from elke_tanzer's journal. I've also come across several links to old posts about such things. There is also what I posted about two weekends ago, and the fact that Miss Desiree obviously doesn't get it.

It is entirely unlikely that any potential rat bastards lying little twerps thieves will see this rant. This makes me sad... they obviously spend enough time at our websites.

There's the idea of intellectual property. There's the idea that we, as fan artists, are stealing the original content. There is that entirely lame-assed excuse that "Well, my FRIEND gave it to me!"

Not once have I ever claimed to be Peter Jacson, JRR Tolkien, Chris Columbus, JK Rowling, or Gregory Widen (director of The Prophecy). If I was indeed any of these people, I wouldn't be doing fanvids, nor would I be writing slash (well, perhaps I would be if I was Philippa Boyens... hmm, something to ponder). Also, if I was indeed Tolkien, I'd be a bit on the dead side. Just sayin'.

This, as we all know, is why I disclaim my work -- as will any good fan. Despite the fact that anyone with half a brain knows that I am not Peter Jackson. He's been far too busy these past few years to go about making slashy Boromir vids, and besides -- he's undoubtedly far more enamoured with the character rape that is his vision of Legolas, than I am. I simply can't be Jackson.

Anyone with half a brain who has watched Fellowship, The Two Towers, Philosopher's Stone (or Sorcerer's Stone, for our American friends), Chamber of Secrets or The Prophecy a fair handful of times -- you are the people I share the vids online for -- know which bits are directly from the source material. You know and I know. I am not trying to pass these bits off as my own because that's just downright dumb. Therefore, it's just wrong of you, dear potential or current rat thief, to take someone else's vid -- in whole or in part -- and say that you edited the thing together yourself. Sure, you edited other people's vids together, but you're taking credit for other people's work. Anything that's not directly out of the movies you're working with, people are going to think you slaved over, and it's just not cool to pretend other people's hard work is your own. The same applies to art, the same applies to fic. Allow me to take one moment to discuss the people who steal hand-drawn/painted fan art and manipulate or ass that off as your own: You frelling suck donkey balls. JUst because it's not hanging in the Louvre or have a name like Da Vinci, Monet or Van Gogh on it doesn't mean it's okay to filch it for your own self-gratification, jerk. Thanks, have a good day now.

Oh, and copying and pasting fanfiction? Just so you're aware: this sucks too. I don't make this shit up. You wouldn't actually retype Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, change the names, and try to get it published, would you? Of course not. Please, out of the basic decency that is supposed to be in you because you should know right from wrong -- please don't copy, paste, search and replace names in fanfiction, either. It still takes time and efford and blood and sweat and tears, even if the characters aren't ours.

Similarities in fic? Hmm, that's something else entirely. There are cliche'd situations and phrases that come up a lot. I'm almost waiting for the point where we have fanfiction author A write a story about, say, Remus and Sirius getting stuck together in, say, a broom closet, that involves the phrase "'Oh, well, shite,' said Sirius", and then for author B to use the same situation, write a completely different story, but include the same phrase. Then, author A and all her little friends going to hang author B out to dry. Or, maybe not even author A, because author A is a perfectly sensible woman -- maybe just people who read A's story. Now, I want to make it perfectly clear, that in such situations, I will not bother author B. Don't expect me to. Do expect, however, to find me pointing and laughing at everybody who is spazzing out for being, well, a bunch of silly spazzes. Mmkay?

Moving on to the old excuse "My friend gave it to me!" If your friend gave you an essay, and said, "It's okay to hand this in!" ... would you? Maybe I'm either too much of a goody-two-shoes, or way too paranoid, but I sure as hell wouldn't. Even if this doesn't hold water, why wouldn't your friend want their name attached to a full vid with these clips, or post the story, themselves? Probably because they know it's not cool for them to do so -- but hey, they get off fairly well scott-free if you do it for them like the dumbass you are, dumbass. I think, then, that it follows that your friend is a rat who obviously doesn't care if you end up with your name dragged through the mud.

You do not live under a rock. Nobody vids for a fandom if they have never seen the movie. Therefore, you know that it did not look like this in the movie. You know that somebody made the vids/clips you have. I think this makes it pretty clear that you should know it is in fact NOT OKAY to pass them off as your own work. Because you're not six. (Actually, I think I know six year olds who wouldn't do these things).

Fan artists are not movie studios. Yes, some will tell you that no, you may NOT use their work in any way, shape or form. Writers, with good cause, will ell you that no, you may not change the names of the characters and post the story as your own. Vidders may just send you copies of their source, if you need it. And yes, you'll be told no. Others will say, credit me cearly, and you may alter my art, or use a few of my clips. If they say do say no, they are not a bitch, no matter what you think. "No" is a part of every human language. You will have problems later on in life, my dears, if you don't learn how to cope with this word. It's a lovely, simple word. Embrace the "NO" and move on with your life.

You do not have the right to pass off my work as your own, and I do not have the right to pass off Peter Jackson's or Joanne Rowling's work as my own -- which is why I bloody well don't.

So grow up, okay? The world is your oyster, but there are other people and you have to share the oystery goodness. Writing and drawing are things that sometimes people just can't do. But anybody, with enough practice, can learn how to use Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop, Premiere, or any other video editing program. Teaching myself editing and Paint Shop was a difficult, long process. I am still learning. But it has been deeply satisfying to see myself improve as an artist. Even the writing took practice, I wasn't born with that ability, either. And you know something? You can experience this satisfaction too. Kind of like when your training wheels came off. Would you take away somebody else's post-training wheels euphoria and live that as your own? Of course not; you want to experience that on your own.

So don't steal that feeling from somebody else, okay? Please play nice with the other fans.

And please, from the bottom of your hearts, thank people like nigellus/Desiree for doing what they do -- because the vids at Drawn To the Rhythm are very likely not going back up, unless I re-edit them, because the old vids with my old source won't take watermarks. They need to be re-edited if I want the watermarks on them, and I do. (Hopefully, these thieves don't have a network, going around sending each other my un-watermarked vids.)