The rest of the thread is here.
tl;dr: Don’t monetize AO3, kids. You won’t like what happens next.
read this thread. this is by far the most concise explanation of a lot of different issues that i’ve seen in fandom spaces in a while. cosigning both the linked thread and the thread about aus/uk/can law that’s linked in-thread.
AHDHXHEBSG TWITTER WRITERS DID WHAT NOW???? AND PEOPLE PAID THEM????
If someone has never taken a class that includes copyright law, they may not know this stuff, so I don’t necessarily blame random people for not knowing what copyright is, but like… maybe just maybe it’s something that should be taught????
Just another reminder, because this always drives me crazy, but even if monetizing your fic was 100% unambiguously legal and protected, AO3 would still not let you do it because AO3 was founded and is supported by people like me who want a fandom community that is completely divested from making money off of fic.
Yes, this. Lots of fanworks on AO3 are unambiguously legal. Fics based on Shakespeare plays and fairy tales and Greek mythology and The Great Gatsby and your original character from your D&D game are not violations of copyright, because no copyright applies to those things.
AO3 still doesn’t let you monetize those things on the site, because we don’t want the site to be commercial! Because that’s not what it’s for!
It’s not there for you (generic you) to make money off the efforts of the people who build and maintain the site for free! We aren’t getting paid for the work we do to give you a nice site to use, just like you aren’t getting paid for the work you do to create whatever art you share there. Because fandom is supposed to be a community where we share with each other, and therefore we all benefit.
The deal is, we give you a free, stable, safe platform to host your works. In exchange, you get a site that isn’t covered in ads and tip jars and links to gofundme and “read the next chapter at my patreon”. You get one goddamn place on the internet that isn’t trying to make money off you. And we will defend that space and keep it non-commercial.
[Image IDs: Image #1: Tweet from cuntry roads or whatever john denver said (@/ hairMetals) on Oct 15 reading; ao3 getting millions of dollars almost every year in donations but as a fic author you cant even mention needing money in the end notes of your own fic because ao3 will ban you swiftly for that . cant even have a button thats like hey if you liked my works pls consider just $1.
Quote tweet from em (@/ brosnyaa) on Oct 17, 2022 reading: I see the “AO3 should let us make money” takes are gong around again, so as a copyright attorney, I’d like to again provide some information about fanfiction and fair use.
Image #2: Reply from Pleb (@/ SolmUnable) on 10/18/22 reading: Wait so these twitter writers that made us pay goals for the next chapter of fanfic is doing something illegal??
Reply from abby (@/ andAWasp) on 10/18/22 reading: for a story they’re using another author’s characters for? technically yes. /End IDs]
Plain text: (key smash) Twitter writers did what now? And people paid them?
[Image IDs: Images #3-8: Series of tweets from em (@/ brosnyaa) on Oct 17, 2022 reading: In the US, the reason we can create fanworks without getting sued is the fair use doctrine. A lot of you are probably familiar with this - it allows us to use existing IP in limited contexts (i.e., when the work is “transformative”)
What most people don’t know about fair use is that it’s an affirmative defense. An affirmative defense is used when you Did violate the law, but the law provides exceptions where that’s okay.
All fanworks are infringing by default. When you invoke the fair use defense, you’re saying, “Yes, I did infringe on this copyright, but it’s okay because x, y, and z.”
I think this is something a lot of authors and artists don’t realize.
When you write fanfiction or draw fanart, you are engaging with someone else’s copyrighted work. You’re allowed to do this, but you have to understand that you’re doing it with certain rules that need to be followed.
Two of the big factors in determining whether you can use the fair use defense are:
whether you were paid
how much of the original work you used
The 1ist is obvious. It’s Huge.
The 2nd is, unfortunately, why fanart is generally more acceptable than fanfic when it comes to copyright. Fanart captures a single moment while fanfic uses characters, settings, themes, etc. It’s more drawn out.S
So saying “but fanArtists make money!” doesn’t work. The analysis is completely different - fair use is a balancing test, and writing v. art tips the scale in different directions.
Do I agree with this? No. FanWriters should be able to make money! But that’s how the law is.
Back to the 1st factor. There are a lot of creators who are fine with fanworks now, but they’re Only fine with it because fanfic is free. If that changes, we would most likely see more lawsuits.
As a non-profit, AO3 is able to face the world and say “all our fanfic is free.”
Their policy is in place so that they’re able, in good faith, to certify that all of the fanfiction on their site is unpaid. It’s a Massive boost for the fair use defense. It means that if anyone sues the site or an author on the site, they’ll have a much harder time of winning.
I won’t tell you not to include ko-fi in your twitter bios or to tweet fanfic links with tip jars, I just want everyone to understand why AO3 has this policy.
Because heres one other thing more people could understand: lawsuits are Expensive. Especially copyright suits.
It’s really a gray area what’s allowed and what isn’t in terms of fanworks, but the point is, if someone sues you and you win, it could still cost you A Lot Of Money.
What AO3 is doing isn’t only to protect you legally, it’s to make sure that no one even Tries to sue you. So yes, they are being more cautious than the law necessarily requires, but in this case, caution is a very good thing. /End IDs]
