deathpixie: (humans suck)
[personal profile] deathpixie
So, one of the current "issues" doing the rounds of [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] (and other places) at the moment is the submission by a Harry Potter fanfic archive for a grant from the Pepsi Refresh Grant people. This post provides a series of emails between one outraged fan and the Fiction Alley moderators, who seem to think they're providing an educational service.

I love writing. I love fanfiction. But this is just ridiculous. Fandom is so big on talking about privilege at the moment, well, here's a giant dollop of it - a group of people, with a sufficient education to be literate, sufficient funds to have regular access to books and movies (for the source material) and the internet (for the fanfic), deciding that they ought to be paid to maintain their presence on the Web. Talk about your first world problems!

Edit: As of today, Fiction Alley has withdrawn from the competition. However, the need for showing your support to worthy causes still applies!

However, there is a silver lining to this. Attention has been brought to the Pepsi Refresh Grant and in response to the idiocy of the Fiction Alley folks, people are going out and voting for causes they feel are more important than a Harry Potter fanfic archive staying online. So, in the vein of "don't get mad, get even", go forth and vote. Go through the site and find causes you want to support. You get 10 votes and voting closes November 30. If you're embarrassed and disgusted by the Fiction Alley thing, go and be constructive about it (and leave a comment on their page, adding your voice to the many who have already pointed out how dumb this is).

Date: 2010-11-04 04:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] indiana-j.livejournal.com
God, the lack of ethical practice here (obviously on their part, not Pepsi) makes my teeth hurt.

Date: 2010-11-04 04:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] indiana-j.livejournal.com
They just want money which, hell, I can understand! But the problem with how they're going about ... Christ, fanfiction is still in that legal gray area at times and if you add that to the fact that they didn't notify their members, until the last minute, which is a HUGE no in our industry when engaging in raising funds ...

I don't think they've quite realized what they've gotten themselves into.

Date: 2010-11-04 04:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] indiana-j.livejournal.com
Transparency is the name of the game in nonprofit because, if there isn't, you get people like Senator Grassley accusing the entire industry of being a hot bed for tax evasion. Fiction Alley, regardless of their "educational programs" (I haven't checked into that), might not be a 501(c)3 or other 501 nonprofit but if they want to reap the benefits from donations then they have to actually think like one.

The minute financial gain of any kind comes into play in regards to fanfic is when I start to get uncomfortable. JKR only made her move when the man attempted to publish it on his own - up until then, she'd been an actual staunch supporter of the site. And JKR is one of the ones that knows fanfic exists and only steps up to the plate when money comes into play - there are far more touchy authors regarding it who can't wait for a chance like that.

(Six years at AFP has made me feel VERY STRONGLY on the opinion of ethical fundraising. XD)
Edited Date: 2010-11-04 04:53 pm (UTC)

Date: 2010-11-04 05:12 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] indiana-j.livejournal.com
I did a bit of digging - it seems that FictionAlley is operated by the Fine Arts Work Center, or FAWC, which is a 501(c). It would be interesting to know if FAWC was in on this or if FA did this independently.

Edit: You know what's awful? If they'd put up something for donations to FAWC, it would have been much better received because that's an actual cause as opposed to "keep our servers running so we can have fic!".
Edited Date: 2010-11-04 05:16 pm (UTC)

Date: 2010-11-07 01:06 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tehjai.livejournal.com
My initial reaction was, quite literally, "lol wat". And this is the first I've heard of it, so I'm going to spew more "lol, wat" here.

This doesn't even need to be intellectualized.

A city's youth recreation centre = good!

Someone who's starting an afterschool writing program with a low-income group of kids = also good!

A church who wants to use the money to buy appliances to loan to in-need persons or families = really good!

A bunch of people who write stories about a universe they didn't create and post them on the internet needing money to host their website = ...

One of these things is not like the other, and they can dress it up however they feel but it is not appropriate that they even applied for it in the first place.

Please tell me this didn't have support. Please tell me that the reaction was generally one-sided and consisted of "OH NO YOU DI'INT", or my entire faith in humanity will just shrivel up and fall off like a baby's umbilical cord stump.

Date: 2010-11-07 01:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tehjai.livejournal.com
I'm actually kinda sorry I missed all of that; my first foray into fandom was at FA. Nice people, but damn, the pretentiousness.

"WE GOTTA PAY FOR SERVERRRRRS. Screw the parenting classes, we need our fanfic!"

I also saw the caps on the dreamwidth journal. I do love watching internet wank from a distance, but I love it more when the internet denizens aren't being total asshats.

Now I have the warm fuzzies.

December 2022

S M T W T F S
    123
45678910
1112 1314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 28th, 2025 04:02 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios