i.e. what are acceptable ways of interacting with fics?
So in light of many recent fic theft related events and with Miraculous Blackout ( @miraculousblackout ) still in full swing, I noticed there are many primers on art theft and etiquette around interacting with art and not much about interacting with fanfiction. So for any readers out there who are interested in knowing appropriate ways of interacting with our fics, here’s a quick cheat sheet.
When you find fanfiction online that you enjoy or that you want to share, there are easy and respectful ways to go about this. Simply put, it involves interacting with the original source of the fic. On Tumblr, that’s reblogs and likes. On AO3, that’s comments, kudos, and bookmarks. On FFN that’s favorites and reviews. On Wattpad that’s views and votes. Wanna show us how much you love the story? Tell us what you think and help bump our stats.
If you really love this fic and you want to share this fic with other people, the best way to do that is by sharing links back to the original stories. Creating rec lists comprised of links to your favorite fanfictions are great ways of sharing stories, plus writers love being included on them. Although links are preferred, even just leaving the title of the fic, the name of the author, and the site you read the fic on works. This spreads our stories and lets people know who wrote them.
What about creating work based off of our writing?
Yes! We love that! Creating remixes, creating podfics, using lines as captions for art/cosplay, creating fanart, creating fancomics, and translating fics are all great provided we’re notified and credited where appropriate.
When it comes to creating work based off of our fics that in no way involves manipulating our words (i.e. fanart, fancomics, podfics/dubs, etc.) all we ask is that you credit us. Tag our blogs (if applicable), indicate that you are creating work based off of a fanfiction you read, and leave links back to our stories. Writers love getting art inspired by our fics, but please credit us when you do.
When it comes to creating work that involves manipulating our words (i.e. translations and remixes/rewrites of our fics), it’s always best to ask for permission first. These are things that writers are not always okay with. If they say no, it’s your job to respect that. For remixes/rewrites, please credit us and link back to our original work. Let people know that this is a remix/rewrite of another fic. If you’re translating a fic, it’s important to be very transparent with the writer and tell them where you are going to post this translation and how you are going to credit them (again guys, links links links). It’s also common courtesy to send a link to the writers to the translated work when you’re done.
This also applies to using lines/sections for our fics as captions for your art/cosplay, as captions for your aesthetic posts, etc. We love it when our stories inspire you, but if you’re copying lines from our fics you need to ask us first and you need to credit us properly.
A bonus tip for those of you who enjoy AO3 is that the site actually makes it very easy for you to credit the original writers in cases where you’re posting podfics, remixes, or translations of an existing work. When you select “New Work” and begin to post your creation, there’s a section where you can check off and indicate whether this piece is inspired off another existing work.
If you check the box next to “This work is a remix, a translation, a podfic, or was inspired by another work,” you get an entire form that allows you to include the URL, title, author, and language of the original work. AO3 very nicely credits the original author for you when you fill this out. As a personal suggestion, gifting the work to the original author by typing in their AO3 username is a good way to cover all your bases.
One last thing: please do not monetize creations that are inspired by our writing unless we give you very clear permission to do so.
Making fanart for our stories is great. Selling prints of fanart inspired by our fics without getting our permission first is less great. This also goes for anyone who dubs over fanfiction on YouTube and monetizes on the videos they post. Writers are artists as well, and our ideas are just as valuable as our written words. To monetize work that is inspired by our words and our ideas is unfair to us. General rule of thumb: don’t do it unless you have permission from us.
To Review:
Give fics comments, likes, reblogs, views, kudos, bookmarks, votes, and favorites. This is the best way to show us you appreciate our work. Please do it!
If ever you want to share fics with others, always share links leading to the original story. Links Links Links!!!
If you want to create something inspired by our work, please credit us by tagging our blogs and leaving links to our stories.
If you want to manipulate our work either through a translation or by creating a rewrite/remix of the work, ask for permission first.
If you don’t have permission, it ends there. Some writers are uncomfortable with their writing being manipulated/altered and you should respect that.
If you do have permission, please credit us by tagging our blogs and leaving links to our stories.
Please do not monetize work you’ve created that is inspired by our words and our ideas unless you have our permission.
If you’re ever unsure, always ask the writer first
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