Fic Theft - Blog Posts

I don't know who needs to hear this, but as a creator -

I am fine with "the audience" -

downloading my fics

printing my fics

copy/pasting or screenshotting my fics

sharing your saved copy of my fics with anyone else who might want them in the unlikely but never impossible case that my fics are no longer available on ao3

making a book of my fic(s) and running your fingers across the pages while lovingly whispering my precioussss

doing these things with anything I create for fandom, such as meta, headcanons, au nonsense like 'texts from the brodinsons,' etc

I am not fine with "the audience"

doing any of the above with the purpose/intent of plagiarizing my work or passing it off as their own in any capacity

feeding my work into ai for any reason whatsoever

Save the fandom things. Preserve the fandom things. Respect the fandom things.

Enjoy the fandom things.

Hey there! It's totally cool if someone wants to turn your content into ai. Take it as a compliment! Remember, it's a fandom, you don't own it and we all share and create together, so it's fair for people to have different opinions about your work. No need to get upset, it's all part of the fun and diverse community we have here! Just let others have what they find satisfying.😊

I understand your point. But no. It's not. I'm a part of a community, the exchange of ideas with other human beings is expected. I don't get a say with what other people do with my characters but I'm kind of responsible for what is done with them regardless and to just reduce everything to... Train an algorithm to replicate what I do? The things I make? That's just. It's soulless. I get not everything I write appeals to everyone. That's fine. But you don't get to remove me from the equation of my work. It's not a compliment. Death of the author doesn't fucking apply when I'm right here. I guess I can't stop people if they do it privately but seriously, please. Please think of what you're saying. Because the implication that the author can be translated into AI and removed from the process is just horrific.

This may be arrogant but the reason anyone would like my takes at all is because they come from my heart, head and hands. Remove that and you may as well just use an AI trained on the canon material and leave me out of it.

You don’t own fanfics. They’re inherently public domain because they aren’t your IP. Agree or disagree with AI, there are no grounds for “protection” from AI because it isn’t your IP to begin with. That’s what you chose when you chose this medium

Oh dear.

Okay, you get an answer, because at least you took the effort to write your ask out properly, even if you are hiding behind the grey, sunglassed circle.

Do I, or any fanfic author for that matter, have any legal claims to our work? No, not really, no. (Although if someone took a fic, filed off the serial number--deleted the fandom specific elements--, and then had it published for financial gain, yeah, that would be a case.)

BUT

Fandoms are built on a social contract that says we respect each others work, the effort people put into their art. We don't steal or disrespect the work of our peers. By feeding people's fanworks to AI you both steal and disprect it, and we need to make people realize that before it's too late--before fandom falls apart, because there will be no more real, actual fanworks.

Disrepectfully,

Orlissa

(i can't believe I have to say this)