Like many other people across the interwebs, I heard about Amazon's "Kindle Worlds" today. For those that haven't heard, Amazon is opening a self-submission platform for authors of fanfiction to submit their work to be paid for it.
The content guidelines for the program are listed on Amazon's website as follows:
Amazon wont allow any sort of crossovers (ex: SuperWhoLock) because they don't have the licenses they would need, meaning some of my favorite authors won't be able to use the platform. Amazon won't allow any sort of pornography, but who is to decide what crosses the line in literature as to what is pornographic? Also, what is decided as "offensive"? Who is setting these standards? What I may find completely fine, others may find offensive, who is to decide the line? Are AU's (alternate universes) allowed even though they aren't part of the original World? Whoever is going to have the job of reading thousands of fanfictions are going to have quite the task ahead of them.
As it stands, there are many, many places fans can go to read fanfiction. They can go to AO3, tumblr, and FanFiction and read whatever they want. For free. So why would they want to go elsewhere and read fanfiction that is heavily regulated and pay for content? I'm all for giving authors that create some of my favorite fanfictions a way to make money off of their content. What I do not like is the fact that whereas fanfiction was a labor of love, is now becoming a way for people to try and make money. Whereas fans would create these amazing stories simply because they loved the universe and characters, it is now about making money. And making money for the company, not the author.
Many, many other people have already made the point that if Amazon and Warner Bros are attempting to stop the creation of "illegal" fanfiction, this is surely going to fail. The thousands of people out there typing up stories as I type this won't simply stop because of this. Websites devoted to solely publishing fanfiction aren't going to turn off their servers. Most fandoms will simply continue on as usual without this ever being an issue. Why? Because people like crossovers. Fans like AU's. Fans like things that may be offensive or graphic or even (gasp) pornographic. We know what our OTP's and ships are. Opening up this platform for companies to make money off of fans with little in return won't change any of that.
I'll be interested to see where this goes and how Amazon tries to expand this platform. But I don't see myself ever actually using it.
Amazon Publishing has secured licenses fromWarner Bros . Television Group’sAlloy Entertainment division for itsNew York Times best-selling book series Gossip Girl, byCecily von Ziegesar; Pretty Little Liars, bySara Shepard ; and Vampire Diaries, byL.J. Smith ; and plans to announce more licenses soon. Through these licenses, Kindle Worlds will allow any writer to publish authorized stories inspired by these popular Worlds and make them available for readers to purchase in theKindle Store .
The content guidelines for the program are listed on Amazon's website as follows:
Even at first glance, Kindle Worlds seems like it benefits the corporations more than it does the author. Not only because of the ridiculous guidelines, but due to the fact that once an author submits the work, the characters and storylines they have created no longer belong to them. It seems like this is just an easy way for Warner Bros. to gather ideas for future episodes of their shows. Isn't that what they hire writers for? Authors that have their work selected will not get any form of compensation if their story/characters are used.
- Pornography: We don't accept pornography or offensive depictions of graphic sexual acts.
- Offensive Content: We don’t accept offensive content, including but not limited to racial slurs, excessively graphic or violent material, or excessive use of foul language.
- Illegal and Infringing Content: We take violations of laws and proprietary rights very seriously. It is the authors' responsibility to ensure that their content doesn't violate laws or copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other rights.
- Poor Customer Experience: We don't accept books that provide a poor customer experience. Examples include poorly formatted books and books with misleading titles, cover art, or product descriptions. We reserve the right to determine whether content provides a poor customer experience.
- Excessive Use of Brands: We don’t accept the excessive use of brand names or the inclusion of brand names for paid advertising or promotion.
- Crossover: No crossovers from other Worlds are permitted, meaning your work may not include elements of any copyright-protected book, movie, or other property outside of the elements of this World.
Amazon wont allow any sort of crossovers (ex: SuperWhoLock) because they don't have the licenses they would need, meaning some of my favorite authors won't be able to use the platform. Amazon won't allow any sort of pornography, but who is to decide what crosses the line in literature as to what is pornographic? Also, what is decided as "offensive"? Who is setting these standards? What I may find completely fine, others may find offensive, who is to decide the line? Are AU's (alternate universes) allowed even though they aren't part of the original World? Whoever is going to have the job of reading thousands of fanfictions are going to have quite the task ahead of them.
As it stands, there are many, many places fans can go to read fanfiction. They can go to AO3, tumblr, and FanFiction and read whatever they want. For free. So why would they want to go elsewhere and read fanfiction that is heavily regulated and pay for content? I'm all for giving authors that create some of my favorite fanfictions a way to make money off of their content. What I do not like is the fact that whereas fanfiction was a labor of love, is now becoming a way for people to try and make money. Whereas fans would create these amazing stories simply because they loved the universe and characters, it is now about making money. And making money for the company, not the author.
Many, many other people have already made the point that if Amazon and Warner Bros are attempting to stop the creation of "illegal" fanfiction, this is surely going to fail. The thousands of people out there typing up stories as I type this won't simply stop because of this. Websites devoted to solely publishing fanfiction aren't going to turn off their servers. Most fandoms will simply continue on as usual without this ever being an issue. Why? Because people like crossovers. Fans like AU's. Fans like things that may be offensive or graphic or even (gasp) pornographic. We know what our OTP's and ships are. Opening up this platform for companies to make money off of fans with little in return won't change any of that.
I'll be interested to see where this goes and how Amazon tries to expand this platform. But I don't see myself ever actually using it.
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