20Alright, I know I am probably going to regret this, but I feel I need to become part of this conflict in order to put an end to it. I am going to attempt to be the voice of reason on both sides of this "war" that seems to rage on between the users of fictionpress and the users of fanfiction
I think it is best to solve this issue by stating facts; facts that most people already know but need to be restated in order to solve some of this.
First of all, I will reference the ToS of fictionpress, they state:
"Please be aware that some contributions to FictionPress contain illegal and copyrighted material. FictionPress staff will make every effort to remove said material from FictionPress's web site. If you run across said material, the staff of FictionPress requests that you alert them via e-mail so that appropriate action can be taken. Please see "Section Nine: Copyrights and Copyright Holders" and "Section Ten: Domestic Copyrights" for more information on reporting copyright violations."
Section Nine then states:
"FictionPress respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users to do the same. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, there are two methods of recourse depending on the nature of the infraction. If you have a copyright abuse complaint based on theft of your piece by other authors, please see Section Ten: Domestic Copyrights. Else, please provide FictionPress with the following information:
(1) an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest;
(2) a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
(3) a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the site;
(4) your address, telephone number, and email address;
(5) a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
(6) a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your Notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.
After this has been received, FictionPress administrators will seek to determine if the piece in question is in violation of your copyright and then respond accordingly."
And Section 10:
"FictionPress respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users to do the same. If you feel that your writing was copied with out permission and in violation of your copyright by another writer on FictionPress, please provide FictionPress administrators with the following information via e-mail:
(1) Pen name and e-mail address.
(2) Contact information for the author you feel is violating your copyright. This information should include the author.s pen name, e-mail address, and author profile url.
(3) The url of the piece that you have the copyright for, the date that the story was posted, and the title of the piece.
(4) The url of the piece that you feel is in violation of your copyright, the date the alleged infringed piece was written and the title the alleged infringed piece.
(5) Supporting and collaborative evidence that demonstrates copyright infringement.
(6) A short message detailing the nature of the copyright infringement.
After this has been received, FictionPress administrators will seek to determine if the piece in question is in violation of your copyright and then respond accordingly."
Now of course, facts are boring, so now its time for opinion. Yes it is wrong to write something that belongs to someone else and then call it your own. We all learn that every year from kindergarten all the way through the end of our college careers. Plagiarism is wrong. Plain and simple, end of story.
Fictionpress is a website created to "provide writers and readers with a place to post and read stories, review stories and to communicate with other authors and readers through forums and chat rooms."
So therefore, if someone has an idea, that somehow or another finds itself linking back to a previously copyrighted idea one would think that that particular story should not surface on fictionpress, but rather should go to fanfiction.
However, nowhere, on either site, is it outlined exactly what qualifies as "fanfiction". Of course we all know it is if you use the same characters or storyline as that of a scenario that has already been made famous, for example, Star Wars, or Halo. But, what I find so interesting is that certain stories on fictionpress get blasted for using something as little as the same name in their title.
I appreciate your animosity to eliminate fanfiction from this site, as most of your complaints against it seem to range from ones lack of creativity to creating a lack of bandwith for others who have that creativity one lacks. And I have a feeling that the previous paragraph will cause me a lot of grief in reviews, but I'm not editing this, I have to say what I have to say.
If you don't like it…well, to be honest, I don't care…
Continuing on…
Nobody on this website is making money. Nobody on this website is a famous author, unless that title has been self-proclaimed. Mind you, anyone with that self-proclaimed title deserves to be banned from this and any other writing/blogging site because they are obviously too opinionated to be an author. Therefore, since this doesn't provide anyone a business venture, I don't think people should waste valuable bandwidth in order to leave tons and tons of negative reviews for these people.
I would like to cite an example, in fact the example that made me want to write this essay. The story is entitled Star Wars: Reality by author Raptor7435 and can be found on this very site, if you search appropriately
This story is 49 total chapters, each one ranging from about 5-10 pages, of somebody's blood, sweat, tears, and commitment to a dream. Whoever they are, they have written a very interesting story, whose only similarity to the real Star Wars is the title.
Even the description of the story states:
"changed the title. i don't own star wars; i don't think i own star wars. this is set in the galactic civil war, and its on fanfiction too but im keeping it here as well. please RR. i think youll like it."
Now I sat down, and read all 49 chapters. I am not a star wars fan, and I support this person's hard work. I think it belongs where it is, but I also believe that, along with most of the people who reviewed this story, it does belong on fanfiction as well.
And just to note, the only thing this story had in common with Star Wars over its 49 chapters was the a mention of the name Darth Vader and the Emperor at the VERY beginning of the story, and technological names that in no way affect the plot.
That alone may be enough to qualify it as fanfiction, but in the big picture, those few things constitute for maybe, and I did the math here, 1 to 3 percent of the entire story. For those of you less math savvy then the rest of us, that means that 97 to 99 percent of Star Wars: Reality is ORIGINAL fiction, and that sounds like an overruling majority to me.
Than again, this is America, and the phrase majority rules doesn't mean much anymore…
But I digress…
If you read the reviews, and some of the emails this author has received (I do not know him personally but have sent him a few emails), he has told many people that he has the story posted on both websites, however they still refuse to leave him alone. They continue to threaten him, and call him names, discourage his work, insult his writing ability, and forced him into a fighting corner.
He has now released 3 or 4 new stories all about his fight with the reviewers of his story and how they just will not allow him to be in peace, and they still continue to berate both him and his efforts to defend one of the proudest works he has ever created.
A few of his many reviews read:
Posted by user: Luna Lapella
NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR STUPID STORY! You can't even spell "affected," so you're obviously not cut out for writing. This site copyrights things to you, so posting fanfiction is illegal. You could possibly be sued. Just get off his site.
(Author's note: for someone who is critiquing spelling errors…Look at the last sentence, can anyone tell her that the word THIS is spelled T-H-I-S, not H-I-S?)
Posted by user: He who is MOST Heinous
I concur.
Get a fucking life! why are you fighting so hard to keep this story on fictionpress? It's not even a good piece of writing. And who really gives a flying fuck about your stupid 'war' with the 'guards'? If anything, you've just further pushed your head up your ass because in this instance, YOU HAVE NO FUCKING CREATIVITY! So what if you put a disclaimer on it, this is still an original works site. The space your account is occupting is being wasted, instead of being used by someone who writes THEIR OWN STORIES! That's why this site was created genius. And you putting this pile of shit on here defeats the purpose of this site. Seriously, grow up and get a fucking grip!
Fuck you and have a nice day.
-He Who is MOST Heinous-Supreme Overlord and CEO of Sick Bastards Industries Pty. Ltd.
(Authors note…the word FUCK is used 5 times in that review…can anyone say unnecessarily excessive?)
The point I'm trying to make here is that, even though you are all trying to be valiant and seem like you are doing fictionpress a favor, you need to realize you are not high and mighty enough to be evading your own Terms of Service violations. You have every right to send an email reporting copyrighted material on fictionpress, however insults and cursing are disallowed…if you don't believe me read section 5 of the ToS agreement"
Section 5:
AUTHOR/POSTER CONDUCT
You agree not to use the service to:
upload, post or otherwise make available make available any Content that is unlawful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, or otherwise objectionable;
disrupt the flow of normal dialogue or negatively affect the ability of others to chat in real time;
stalk or otherwise harrass other users;
So just as a note, the two reviewers above, who have violated those terms as listed above, have been reported, and I have told raptor7435 to report any others who break that agreement.
In closure, I just want to say this. It is ok to disagree with the fact that a story belongs on one site rather than the other. And it is ok to aid fictionpress in weeding out the copyrighted material such as Raptor's story and many others. But please, do it quietly. If you disagree send off an email, and if fictionpress agrees with you they will handle it. Otherwise just keep your unbridled emotion to yourself, because all you are doing is crushing someone's dream, and work they are very proud of, as well as violating the ToS and getting yourself reported at the same time.
Two wrongs will NEVER make a right.
Sincerely,
A Very Disappointed Author
P.S. – the people who run fanfiction are the same people who run fictionpres, so the chances that they are going to care when the story is posted on both websites, is slim to none.
P.P.S. – Please review this piece all you please, I'm looking forward to your opinions. But keep in mind some of the things you read here before you do…consider it a public safety notice.
P.P.P.S - for those of you who disagree i recommend a essay by FictionPress user Sarasa, check it out, print it out, take it home and whisper sweet nothings to it before you go to sleep each night...i dont really care