Like Melody in the first "reply" I left fandom for ten years too, back in 1999. I was in Trek fandom mostly, and Blake's 7. I was never in Wiseguy fandom so I can't say I left it because I was never in it. Now there is no Wiseguy fandom left and that's what I want now and the ONLY reason I'm back. But really I'm content to be writing for myself only now, and not an audience. My stories are there because I wanted them to be, and not because anyone demanded it. I have a new zine and post my newer stuff on LJ to very little feedback. I have felt a tad lonely over that, but perhaps I am far luckier than I realize. Because having been in fandom from my teen years in the 70s all the way to 1999, I know how mean and hypocritical they can be, with a mob-mentality. I learned to keep my mouth shut shut shut. Now here I am ten years later babbling again...and I ask myself have I learned nothing?
But I do feel very very strongly about the relative non-issue of writers asking for money...or zine editors making money. That has never mattered to me. If someone wants to charge, privately, for a zine or story, I have a choice to buy or not to buy. I don't care if they do it at all. If there are legal issues, they aren't mine, they are the issue of the companies that own the rights to the characters or franchise or whatever it's called. And the fan base is rather insignificant to those companies who are so huge they can't be bothered to even care themselves. So I ask, who made individual fans the policemen/women all of a sudden? And why IS it okay for artists to make money and not writers or editors? Who decided on the rule "We should not make money off fandom?" When did that become some commandment? I made money off fandom. Back in the 80s I had a business where I sold new and used zines, photos, collectibles, new and used books, buttons, and whatever else anyone would buy at Star Trek conventions. Sometimes I did very very well. Shoot me, then. I made money off fandom. Ohmigod. I'm evil! I still do it to some extent only now it's Renaissance Faires where die-hard "fans" of that will spend lots of money buying fantasy costuming and accessories. Ohmigod. I'm making money off more fans. Shoot me again!
If the issue really is about the morality of copyright infringement, then perhaps no fanfic, fanart, photomanipulations or anything else related to a copyrighted TV or Movie universe should ever be posted or, even, written (except maybe under the pillow with a flashlight and shown to no one not ever under pain of Merricatk's enemies' pillory.) Seriously, this is a non-issue. Rudely, savagely picking on people and suggesting they should be raped is the more serious issue.
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Date: 2010-06-17 07:03 am (UTC)But I do feel very very strongly about the relative non-issue of writers asking for money...or zine editors making money. That has never mattered to me. If someone wants to charge, privately, for a zine or story, I have a choice to buy or not to buy. I don't care if they do it at all. If there are legal issues, they aren't mine, they are the issue of the companies that own the rights to the characters or franchise or whatever it's called. And the fan base is rather insignificant to those companies who are so huge they can't be bothered to even care themselves. So I ask, who made individual fans the policemen/women all of a sudden? And why IS it okay for artists to make money and not writers or editors? Who decided on the rule "We should not make money off fandom?" When did that become some commandment? I made money off fandom. Back in the 80s I had a business where I sold new and used zines, photos, collectibles, new and used books, buttons, and whatever else anyone would buy at Star Trek conventions. Sometimes I did very very well. Shoot me, then. I made money off fandom. Ohmigod. I'm evil! I still do it to some extent only now it's Renaissance Faires where die-hard "fans" of that will spend lots of money buying fantasy costuming and accessories. Ohmigod. I'm making money off more fans. Shoot me again!
If the issue really is about the morality of copyright infringement, then perhaps no fanfic, fanart, photomanipulations or anything else related to a copyrighted TV or Movie universe should ever be posted or, even, written (except maybe under the pillow with a flashlight and shown to no one not ever under pain of Merricatk's enemies' pillory.) Seriously, this is a non-issue. Rudely, savagely picking on people and suggesting they should be raped is the more serious issue.