FanLib.com

[Witch-king of Angmar]

I saw this over at OSA and I thought it was rather alarming.

FanLib.com
Posted: 30 Apr 2007 06:22
Taken from www.scribeoz.com/fanfic/index.php

FanLib.com is currently going around certain fanfiction archives and basically 'poaching' members without so much of a nod toward the owners of said archives. Bad manners, IMHO, but if only it ended there...

LotRFF have already issued a warning and I thought we best do the same.

Whether or not FanLib have been inviting some of you via e-mail, whether or not you're planning on joining and posting there, may we point out to you their Terms of Service?

Check out Clause V, Section 1:
"You retain all of Your ownership rights in Your Submissions. However, by submitting the Submissions to FanLib, You hereby grant FanLib a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform the Submissions in connection with the Website. You also hereby grant each user of the Website a non-exclusive license to access Your Submissions through the Website, and to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display and perform such Submissions as permitted through the functionality of the Website and under these TOS."

I'm not big on legalese but that sounds to me like they're reserving the rights to do pretty much what they want with your work, even money, without sharing the earnings with you. I'm not saying don't go there, I'm just saying, do so with care.

Thanks,

do.
Thanks to Alassante for the heads up, as well as Adora for her kind help.

*****************

This is signed by do, one of the moderators at OSA. From the way I read this, it looks like FanLib.com can take someone's story, modify it, and pass it off as their own. I wondered how anyone might get earnings from fanfic stories, and all I can figure is this. Since there is no way because of the copryights that anyone can sell a story based on Tolkien's works without the agreement of the estate, all I can figure out is that they might take someone's original story, change the names and situations, and put it in a different fantasy realm of their own creation.

Scary, isn't it?

[Gordis]

Grrr...
Thanks for the warning, Angmar!

[mimbo]

This is incorrect info about FanLib.com. The below is taken from their terms of service and is pretty clear:

II. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS

Section 1. FanLib's Intellectual Property Rights
FanLib claims no ownership or control over Your Submissions. You retain all of Your ownership rights in Your Submissions. However, by submitting the Submissions to FanLib, You hereby grant FanLib a non-exclusive, worldwide, and royalty-free license to use, reproduce, distribute, and display the Submissions in connection with the Website. FanLib may prepare derivative works from Your Submissions solely for the purpose of promoting and showcasing them in connection with the Website. FanLib shall not make any use of your Submissions or exercise any of the rights to Your Submissions granted to it hereunder other than in connection with the Website. This license is transferable only in the event of a sale or merger of FanLib, and only to the other Company involved in the transaction. You also hereby grant each user of the Website a non-exclusive license to access Your Submissions through the Website, and to use, distribute, and display such Submissions as permitted through the functionality of the Website and under these TOS. The foregoing licenses granted by You terminate once You remove or delete a Submission from the Website.

[Gordis]

Hmm... I don't know...(By the way, welcome, Mimbo!

Once you highlight particular sentences it looks one way, once you highlight other sentences it looks another way. That is the beauty of legal documents, I believe. ;D

Anyway, I still don't like the mention of "derivative works" - done for any reason.

[mimbo]

Thanks for the welcome!

Actually, I am sure if you showed the TOS to an attorney you would see that there is no wiggle room at all. I have worked with hundreds of contracts as an executive for a large internet company and you can't take the words out of context in a legal document. In their TOS you can't just pretend the words "In connection with the website" aren't there. It just doesn't work that way.

FanLib's mission in life is to celebrate the fan fiction writer. Yes, if you don't know by now, I'm a shill. In order to celebrate them by featuring their work on the homepage they need the right to create "derivative works."

You should really check it out for yourself. If you hate it and are worried about it, don't go back.

[Witch-king of Angmar]

Hello there, Mimbo. Nice to meet you. Anyone who really wants to "celebrate the fan fiction writer" sounds all right to me, especially since a lot of people knock us all the time.

I had a hunch for some strange reason that there might be more about this on OSA, so I went over there just a while ago. Lo and behold, there on their home page is a letter from David Williams of FanLib. Anyone who wants to read the post can go to www.scribeoz.com/fanfic/index.php He says about the same thing that you do, Mimbo.

Peace.