tag:dreamwidth.org,2010-09-03:574836librasmilelibrasmilelibrasmile2016-03-15T21:46:53Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2010-09-03:574836:2735This is painful - Paramount sues fanfic writers over copyright infringement2016-03-15T21:46:53Z2016-03-15T21:46:53ZClassical music stationannoyedpublic0<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/35811012/why-star-trek-makers-are-suing-fan-fiction-writers">Read the article here.</a> <br /><br />As a Star Trek fan from way back - i.e., ORIGINAL Star Trek and all of the fanzines (remember that word anybody?) were PRINTED - this is painful. I haven't seen the film although the article includes photos from it. But based on what I have seen there is no way these guys can win this. And honestly, I don't think I want them to.<br /><br />It doesn't seem possible that they didn't know EXACTLY what they were doing. If that is the case, there really is no leg to stand on as far as I can see. I believe the current copyright law extends ownership of a work to 90 some odd years before the work goes into the public domain (unless of course the owner renews the copyright). The original series debuted in the 60s. We'd have to get to something like 2050, before this kind of work would be legal. And these guys are clearly using concepts from the 1980s films and the 1990s show and so on and so forth. So nowhere near enough time has passed for any of this to be legal.<br /><br />Look I know fanfic gets a bad rap. But as all the really serious fanfic writers know, fanfic is hovering right on the edge of the mainstream right now. Like it or not, Fifty Shades of Grey made that happen. I can't help but think that fanfic has become the unofficial farm team for publishers scouting new authors. Self-publishers are the official minor league. But fanfic is right behind it. Mainstream content creators are taking it VERY seriously now. So now more than ever we have to watch our p's and q's.<br /><br />I know it's not easy. In fact I think it's frankly ridiculous to have to add the disclaimer to every single piece of fanfic we create when to me it's quite obvious that no money is being made. I mean, if I'm printing copies to sell (and even THAT was overlooked as long as no one made a profit), or placing a download link conditional upon dropping some money into PayPal account, that's a different story. The vast majority of us are clearly not out here trying to score a buck on fanfic.<br /><br />But it IS hard to ply your blood, sweat, tears and creativity into generating quality writing while knowing that you can never profit from that labor. I know I feel that way. Which is why I've turned toward focusing more on my own original fic. Fanfic is what I use to sharpen my skills as both a writer and a reader. But I don't expect to make a dime off it because it is illegal to make money off of someone else's work.<br /><br />If I can figure that out, these guys certainly can. Let's just hope they don't ruin it for the rest of us.<div class="lj-currents"> </div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=librasmile&ditemid=2735" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2010-09-03:574836:2469My list of WIP fan fics2016-03-11T01:54:05Z2016-03-11T01:54:05Zpublic2 Stole this from Delphi who stole it from Solosundance. Just because I've listed them doesn't mean they'll keep this title or ever be finished! Just a nice long list of wishful thinking that MIGH come true.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: medium;">FANFIC</span></strong><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 102);"><span style="font-size: larger;"><strong>Harry Potter</strong></span></span><br />1. <strong>Confessions of a Cornwall Grad </strong>- Severus Snape/OFC<br />2. <strong>Well Done, My Good and Faithful Servant </strong>- Severus Snape/OFC<br />3. <strong>When Earth Kisses Air </strong>- Dramione<br />4. <strong>Hogwarts - Help Wanted </strong>- started out as a look at all the jobs we never see at Hogwarts, like plumber, chaplain, etc. and somehow segued into a potential Dramione<br />5. <strong>Harry Potter and the Poisoned Apple Princess </strong>- this is a Harry/Pansy story. I never liked Harry and Ginny. I used to ship Harry and Luna HARD. But then I discovered Harry and Pansy and that was that. <br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 102);"><span style="font-size: larger;"><strong>Sherlock</strong></span></span><br /><strong>Living Proof series</strong> - This is a Sherlock/Moriarty mpreg - Yep I went there! I just finished and posted part 5 of this. I expect there are only at most 3 more parts to go.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 102);"><span style="font-size: larger;"><strong>Sherlock/Cabin Pressure</strong></span></span><br /><strong>Not a Holmes series</strong> - this is my Capt. Martin Crieff as the littlest Holmes brother. Except he's not - not a Holmes that is. He's still the littlest brother in my series. This one is up to 7 installments and I have no idea when it will end.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 102);"><span style="font-size: larger;"><strong>Superman Returns</strong></span></span><br /><strong>Love's Divine</strong> - my "What if Superman Had a Black Girlfriend" story. My best reviewed work but also my most weirdly received. Some people absolutely fell in love with it. Others seemed to think it was some kind of quasi-porn simply because the girlfriend is Black. Not a good look, Internet! In my fondest dreams, this would be my web series. From what I can see, some of my ideas about Superman turned up in Batman vs. Superman. But they existed before I wrote them. They were explored in the comic Kingdom Come. But I never thought they took it as far as it could go. This is my attempt to follow to a logical conclusion.<br /><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: medium;">ORIGINALS</span></strong><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 102);"><strong>Game Change</strong> </span>- screenplay idea. Sort of The Big Short meets The Big Payback. Scene written and submitted to ABC network casting department. Alas, no word back. Working on turning into a full length screenplay.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 102);"><strong>Dirty Lens</strong></span> - part one of a romance novel series.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 102);"><strong>The Book of Esther</strong></span> - my twist on that old romance novel trope of the heroine getting kidnapped into a harem on the orders of a lusty prince<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 102);"><strong>Majesty</strong></span> - my "what if" story looking at what might have happened if the infamous Duke and Duchess of Windsor shocked everyone and actually had a child and how that might have impacted Princess Diana.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 102);"><strong>Emancipation</strong>, <strong>Calling All Angels</strong></span> and <span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 102);"><strong>The Calendar Girl</strong></span> - my paranormals.<br />EmanEm<br /> <br /><br type="_moz" /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=librasmile&ditemid=2469" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2010-09-03:574836:1088Fic: Hair Without the Shirt ( Cheveux sans la chemise )2011-02-22T01:30:44Z2011-02-22T01:30:44Zanything by Stingmellowpublic0<br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="widows: 2; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font: medium 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; letter-spacing: normal; color: rgb(0,0,0); word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px"> <div style="border-bottom-style: none; padding-bottom: 5px; border-right-style: none; background-color: rgb(255,255,255); margin: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; border-top-style: none; font-size: 12px; border-left-style: none; padding-top: 5px"><strong><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)"><span style="font-size: large">Hair Without The Shirt<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)"><span style="font-size: large">( Cheveux sans la chemise )</span></span><br />By Librasmile<br /></strong><br />(517 words)<br /><br /><strong>Logline:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong><em>So, greasy git am I? Let the mindless little rug rats laugh. Children are so shortsighted. Just like their parents. Only ever seeing what they want to see… Severus understands the tradition of the hair shirt. He just can’t follow it.</em><br /><br /><strong>Author’s Note:</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em>Yes I’m one of those sevvie fan girls who wants to come up with a plausible excuse for the state of his hair. This is what I got…<br /></em><br /><strong>Rating</strong>: G<br /><br /><strong>Disclaimer:</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em>All characters including Severus’ hair, are the creation and property of JK Rowling. I make no profit from their use.</em><br />---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><em>Cheveux sans la chemise.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></em><br /><br />That sounds so much better, so much more…noble.<br /><br /><em>Hair without the shirt,</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>on the other hand…<br /><br />Those words thud to the ground with all the leaden uselessness they possess.<br /><br />So, greasy git am I?<br /><br />Let the mindless little rug rats laugh.<br /><br />Children are so shortsighted. Just like their parents. Only ever seeing what they want to see.<br /><br />Let them scoff.<br /><br />Of course their piddling insults sting. But they hardly hold a candle to the inner fires, the ones that nightly stand between me and sleep.<br /><br />…I’ve earned so much worse…<br /><br />…It’s not as if…<br /><br />I suppose I could have done other things, made a grander gesture.<br /><br />The headmaster had “fixed his cannon against self-slaughter”* so my options were rather limited.<br /><br />Still, I might have given them something truly comical to laugh at. I could have raided Sprout’s greenhouses. Explaining to the arch-bleeding heart of Hufflepuff why I’d stolen all of her lilies would, I’m sure, have yielded me a plentitude of the abasement that was my due.<br /><br />I could see it now. The Head of Slytherin at the mercy of the sweet little badger - brilliant. Whatever lying excuse I’d come up with would have crumbled under the baffled sympathy - or worse, the pity – I’d see in her eyes. But the headmaster has already left me with a stomachful of useless pity and it wouldn’t do to vomit onto a fellow head of house’s shoes.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br /><br />It would have been hilarious.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br /><br />I suppose I could have held my humiliation up as an offering to the fates that seem hell-bent on tripping me up by offering me the worst possible temptations for my desires and pride. And all of it could have been set to the sound of laughing students.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br /><br />Yes, that might have been sufficiently humiliating.<br /><br />But it would have been a one-time event, no matter how intense, and nowhere near enough.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br /><br />Nor is the grand gesture my strong suit. I release the arrow but it never stays the course, instead veering from the ridiculous to the…the tragic.<br /><br />I’ve never been particularly adept at practicing willing humiliation, either.<br /><br />I suppose that is why there is a time-honored ritual fo these things, a prescription if you will.<br /><br />Putting aside the pain of the fact that I cannot fully honor it…<br /><br />I cannot rent my garments and don sackcloth.<br /><br />But I can drape myself in black.<br /><br />I cannot sit in ashes and wail.<br /><br />But I can shut myself up in the dungeons and snarl at those who come too close.<br /><br />I cannot even cut my hair.<br /><br />But I can let it soak in the detritus that coats every minute of my cursed life – until the locks are as black and slimy as I know my deeds – my inner self, my soul – to be.<br /><br />Yes, it is rather funny, isn’t it?<br /><br />Blessed are the ancients, for they truly knew how to mourn.<br /><br />Blessed are those with the right to mourn.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br /><br />May they have mercy on me.<br /><br />Let the world see. Let them that have eyes see.<br /><br />Let them laugh at the greasy git.<br /><br />As long as they laugh at my hair I don’t have to cry.<br /><br /><strong>~Fin~</strong><br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><strong>Author’s End Note:</strong><em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I’ve read a lot of fan fic author’s rationales for why Severus’ hair is the way it is and none of them quite satisfied me. While doing yet another character analysis on him for my stories<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5475961/1/Confessions_of_a_Cornwall_Grad"><span style="color: rgb(128,0,128)"><strong>Confessions of a Cornwall Grad</strong></span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></a>and its prequel<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="color: rgb(128,0,128)"><strong><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4994450/1/The_Healers_Apprentice">The Healer’s Apprentice</a></strong></span>, I came to the startlingly simple conclusion that he’s a penitent and/or a mourner. And what little I know of the rituals of mourning includes the renting ( tearing of one’s clothes ), donning of sackcloth, pouring ashes on one’s head, and possibly cutting one’s hair. Severus can’t do any of that because he has no right to do it. So he does what he can to mourn. Hope you liked it! Please read and review! (<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><strong>P.S.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong>I’m still working on<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="color: rgb(128,0,128)"><strong>Cornwall<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong></span><strong>Chapter 4</strong>. Reviews encourage me to keep going! Nudge, nudge…<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><strong>*P.P.S.</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>the statement “fixed his cannon against self-slaughter” comes from<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="color: rgb(128,0,128)"><strong>Hamlet</strong></span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and his famous “to be or not to be” soliloquy, courtesy of Shakespeare. )</em></div></span><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=librasmile&ditemid=1088" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments