logical fallacy: fan fic = plagiarism
Sep. 23rd, 2007 05:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thatotherpervso this is just a little something I wrote up for The Human Condition. in some ways I'm designing that site to be newbie-friendly, and this is part of that. figured I would post it on my journal first, might be of interest to some folks.
if you have any suggestions for revision, you're welcome to throw them at me.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
madame_meretrix already gave it a bit of a beta.
Why Plagiarizing Fanfiction is Very Bad Idea
Occasionally it is said that crying “plagiarism” within the realm of fanfiction is pure hypocrisy, because all fanfiction writers are stealing the work of others to start off with. Often, such a thing is said by someone who has been caught passing off someone else’s story as their own. Conveniently.
Firstly, let me ‘splain to you why this claim is a logical fallacy.
The Random House unabridged dictionary defines “plagiarism” as the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work.
1. Unauthorized Use –
Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel the Series and all characters found within, has made comments on numerous occasions that give an unofficial nod to the authorization of fanfiction. While there are other entities legally involved, and we can’t take this as hard-and-fast approval, there is enough encouragement from Joss that I feel there is no moral or ethical dilemma in writing fanfiction from his work. He’s given us a wink-wink, nudge-nudge:
I obviously can't read [fan fiction], but the fact is there seems to be a great deal of it, and that's terrific. I wished I'd had that outlet as a youngster, or had the time to do it now. ~Joss, to Science Fiction Weekly
On the subject of fanfic, I am aware that a good deal of it is naughty. My reaction to that is mixed; on one hand, these are characters played by friends of mine, and the idea that someone is describing them in full naughtitude is a little creepy. On the other hand, eroticising the lives of fictional characters you care about is something we all do, if only in our heads, and it certainly shows that people care. So I'm not really against erotic fic and I certainly don't mind the other kind. I wish I'd had this kind of forum when I was a kid. ~Joss, quoted here
These shows are designed to be in people’s lives, in their fiction, in their dreams, in their porn, in everything. ~Joss at chud.com
We do this sort of borrowing-with-permission sometimes within fandom. Sometimes a writer creates a ‘verse or concept that sparks a new idea in us…something we want to take in a new direction, or take further, or twist slightly for our own use. The etiquette dictates that you ask permission to run with it…and often, people will say yes. Because, well…we all know what it’s like to borrow and transform. That is the nature of fanfiction. Mostly, I think we’re a cooperative, collaborative bunch.
But when someone comes across a repost of their own work elsewhere, under someone else’s name, that is…unauthorized use. That is plagiarism. And it feels kinda like violation. Cue outrage. It’s not the *use* of the concept so much as the lack of authorization. And of course—
2. Representation as Original Work –
We don’t own these characters or the canonical plot points, and none of us pretend to. There’s not an author on this archive who would claim to have invented Spike or come up with the phrase “Blondie Bear,” and everyone here readily gives credit where credit is due. When direct quotations from ME’s scripts are used, they are either cited in author’s notes, or the passage is well-known enough that the source of the material is assumed to be common knowledge in fandom. I would say that fanfiction gives more explicit citation for their sources of inspiration than most other forms of mainstream fiction, where often the inspirational influences are unspoken.
Though I cede the finer points of what constitutes fandom plagiarism to other folks, it seems fairly obvious that copy/pasting the text of someone’s fic and posting it as your own without their knowledge or any due credit is in no way equivalent to openly borrowing characters with the creator’s good-humored acknowledgement to build a new creative work.
If you yoink someone else’s fic and post it as your own, will you get sued? Er. No. Arrested? Nope. Is it really All That Serious? Well, it ain’t raising my blood pressure, but I guess it depends how much you want to belong to the community. Because let me share with you a piece of shiny wisdom. The internet is not really a boundless, wild-west kind of place. Nope, we’ve fenced it in. Fandom is a small town with the memory of an elephant, or some similar mixed metaphor. And like a small town, it has a lot of nosy, gossipy neighbors, someone is always watching, and in the end, everyone knows everyone. And like an elephant, it looks sprawling and unwieldy until it’s charging straight at you with pointy tusks and fat stompy feet.
my point is that if you piss off the wrong person, you’ll be tarred, feathered and fitted with a dunce cap. I’ve seen it happen. It ain’t pretty. If your goal is to belong to the community, that will hurt. You’ll wail and gnash your teeth and slink off with your tail between your legs. If belonging to the community is not of interest to you…well you’ve clearly stumbled here by accident and I’m unclear why you bothered copying someone’s fic in the first place, but here’s to your health.
And now that I’m no longer certain whether we’re in the Old South, the Wild West, Africa, or Ireland, I bid you all a fond adieu. (France?) Stay safe. Don’t poke the elephant with a stick. (Thailand?)
if you have any suggestions for revision, you're welcome to throw them at me.
madame_meretrix already gave it a bit of a beta.Why Plagiarizing Fanfiction is Very Bad Idea
Occasionally it is said that crying “plagiarism” within the realm of fanfiction is pure hypocrisy, because all fanfiction writers are stealing the work of others to start off with. Often, such a thing is said by someone who has been caught passing off someone else’s story as their own. Conveniently.
Firstly, let me ‘splain to you why this claim is a logical fallacy.
The Random House unabridged dictionary defines “plagiarism” as the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work.
1. Unauthorized Use –
Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel the Series and all characters found within, has made comments on numerous occasions that give an unofficial nod to the authorization of fanfiction. While there are other entities legally involved, and we can’t take this as hard-and-fast approval, there is enough encouragement from Joss that I feel there is no moral or ethical dilemma in writing fanfiction from his work. He’s given us a wink-wink, nudge-nudge:
I obviously can't read [fan fiction], but the fact is there seems to be a great deal of it, and that's terrific. I wished I'd had that outlet as a youngster, or had the time to do it now. ~Joss, to Science Fiction Weekly
On the subject of fanfic, I am aware that a good deal of it is naughty. My reaction to that is mixed; on one hand, these are characters played by friends of mine, and the idea that someone is describing them in full naughtitude is a little creepy. On the other hand, eroticising the lives of fictional characters you care about is something we all do, if only in our heads, and it certainly shows that people care. So I'm not really against erotic fic and I certainly don't mind the other kind. I wish I'd had this kind of forum when I was a kid. ~Joss, quoted here
These shows are designed to be in people’s lives, in their fiction, in their dreams, in their porn, in everything. ~Joss at chud.com
We do this sort of borrowing-with-permission sometimes within fandom. Sometimes a writer creates a ‘verse or concept that sparks a new idea in us…something we want to take in a new direction, or take further, or twist slightly for our own use. The etiquette dictates that you ask permission to run with it…and often, people will say yes. Because, well…we all know what it’s like to borrow and transform. That is the nature of fanfiction. Mostly, I think we’re a cooperative, collaborative bunch.
But when someone comes across a repost of their own work elsewhere, under someone else’s name, that is…unauthorized use. That is plagiarism. And it feels kinda like violation. Cue outrage. It’s not the *use* of the concept so much as the lack of authorization. And of course—
2. Representation as Original Work –
We don’t own these characters or the canonical plot points, and none of us pretend to. There’s not an author on this archive who would claim to have invented Spike or come up with the phrase “Blondie Bear,” and everyone here readily gives credit where credit is due. When direct quotations from ME’s scripts are used, they are either cited in author’s notes, or the passage is well-known enough that the source of the material is assumed to be common knowledge in fandom. I would say that fanfiction gives more explicit citation for their sources of inspiration than most other forms of mainstream fiction, where often the inspirational influences are unspoken.
Though I cede the finer points of what constitutes fandom plagiarism to other folks, it seems fairly obvious that copy/pasting the text of someone’s fic and posting it as your own without their knowledge or any due credit is in no way equivalent to openly borrowing characters with the creator’s good-humored acknowledgement to build a new creative work.
If you yoink someone else’s fic and post it as your own, will you get sued? Er. No. Arrested? Nope. Is it really All That Serious? Well, it ain’t raising my blood pressure, but I guess it depends how much you want to belong to the community. Because let me share with you a piece of shiny wisdom. The internet is not really a boundless, wild-west kind of place. Nope, we’ve fenced it in. Fandom is a small town with the memory of an elephant, or some similar mixed metaphor. And like a small town, it has a lot of nosy, gossipy neighbors, someone is always watching, and in the end, everyone knows everyone. And like an elephant, it looks sprawling and unwieldy until it’s charging straight at you with pointy tusks and fat stompy feet.
my point is that if you piss off the wrong person, you’ll be tarred, feathered and fitted with a dunce cap. I’ve seen it happen. It ain’t pretty. If your goal is to belong to the community, that will hurt. You’ll wail and gnash your teeth and slink off with your tail between your legs. If belonging to the community is not of interest to you…well you’ve clearly stumbled here by accident and I’m unclear why you bothered copying someone’s fic in the first place, but here’s to your health.
And now that I’m no longer certain whether we’re in the Old South, the Wild West, Africa, or Ireland, I bid you all a fond adieu. (France?) Stay safe. Don’t poke the elephant with a stick. (Thailand?)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-09-23 10:59 pm (UTC)You might want to look to a couple of run-ons and fragments you have, but I've always thought that sort of thing was 'more of a guideline, really'. A well placed fragment can do a lot, tehe.
But in any case, I loved the points you made, especially about how we're a small town and such... Because it's so fuckin' true. Pardon my French. And I vote most definitely France. ;]
no subject
Date: 2007-09-23 11:11 pm (UTC)and yeah, fragments and run-ons and such...I'm pretty much a walking artistic license. I sprinkle punctuation wherever it feels good. *snerk*
no subject
Date: 2007-09-23 11:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-23 11:12 pm (UTC)'No, thanks. I already have a writing partner,' was my reply. (Not to mention her outline was heartbreakingly atrocious.) This person then emailed me in a rage and included Very Dire Threats as to what would happen if I dared use anything she had included in her outline.
Thankfully, she hadn't touched on anything planned for that story's future. But to this day I wonder, if her thinking had coincided with my thinking but I'd thought it before she sent her outline, would her undoubted claim of plagiarism been considered legit by some? And I wonder if anyone else out there has ever had such a bizarre problem with uninvited audience input/demands for strangers to "own" whatever they were creating as well.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-23 11:16 pm (UTC)I think that's actually very common. there will always be backseat drivers in life.
yeah, simultaneous invention happens. I don't think that even falls in the same category as plagiarism, imo.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-23 11:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-24 12:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-25 04:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-24 03:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-25 04:11 pm (UTC)I'm a dork :)
no subject
Date: 2007-10-27 06:12 am (UTC)I wonder if you should get someone to add a bit about manips, since from my passive observation, image theft seems even more prevalent than word theft?
Not that I'm saying you must *g* (I just realised that last sentence came out more proscriptive than I intended, but it's early and I need more coffee before my diplomacy synapse will wake up).
How's the site coming on?
no subject
Date: 2007-11-05 04:56 pm (UTC)Am bookmarking for future reference
s x