One of the aspects about Amazon.com that I love is how it goes out of its way to not only provide a wide variety of books for those who need or want them, but also help people who want to publish their own work by providing their own independent publishing outlet. However, I recently discovered a new outlet of theirs that’s supposedly set to benefit more independent publishing, but in a different case scenario... and because of the circumstance of it, I just could not stay silent about it.
Amazon has recently announced how they will allow fan fiction writers to sell some of their work via the e-book system, Kindle Worlds. According to BBC News, due to the difficulty of getting fan fiction published due to this protection system called copyright laws, the website has made a deal with the TV division of Warner Bros. that will allow fan fiction work to be published based on three of its series; “Gossip Girls,” “The Vampire Diaries” and “Pretty Little Liars.”
While the launch date of this new outlet is currently unknown, already a system is set on how profits with be distributed. Works between 5,000-10,000 words will account for 20% of the overall price in royalty payments, whereas works beyond 10,000 words will result in 35%. Amazon Publishing will be solely responsible for the global publication works.
Already because of the fact that this outlet seems to work itself around the copyright laws (despite the cooperation of Warner Bros.), it’s already a little understandable as to why this is a hazardous idea. Also, based on the sound of the article provided by BBC, I could be wrong, but it doesn’t seem as if the original creators of the designated TV series are getting any of the profits at all.
It’s not just in the matter of laws being preventively broken and worked around, but also in the matters of what Amazon seems to be encouraging.
Fan fiction is a genre of “literature” (quotations intended for the sake of irony) created by fans of popular books, TV shows, movies and even real people. They encompass within the universes of these stories, using the characters someone else took the time and energy to create and develop, and develop their own stories around them, sometimes going so far as to where it becomes content that even the original creator wouldn’t recognize. Common targets for fan fiction these days include “Harry Potter,” “Doctor Who,” “Sherlock,” “Twilight,” “Glee” and more.
By providing this outlet, Amazon appears to be encouraging fans to do more of taking other people’s works and making their own, despite their contract with Warner Bros. This decision is poised to motivate young writers to not be original with creating their own content but instead aim towards ripping off others.
I’ve read some fan fiction myself and I personally despise it. These fans, most of which are adolescents, develop these stories between characters, regarding circumstances that may have never be disclosed to the audience by the original creators, or most likely would never have happened in the first place. For instance, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read these elaborate sex scenes between two characters, only to find out that the author is a hormonal 15 or 16-year-old girl. How do they come up with these scenarios?
I can understand how it is to be a fan of one’s work. That’s completely okay. But by writing fan fiction on the desired content and then posting it on the Internet where the original author/creator could see it if they tried looking for it, I find that to be completely disrespectful to them and all they’ve worked for.
Amazon, as innovative of a company they are, shouldn’t be wasting their time, effort and money over an outlet that will promote less creativity and more working around copyright laws. Instead, I believe they should continue their efforts to encourage more original work to come about and have them published through their indie publishing outlet.
I believe that there are a number of talented writers out there, but how will they ever discover and develop their own voices and visions if they keep using other people’s creations?
