FanLib: Contemporary vs Classic Fandom

[pfeffermuse.livejournal.com]

One issue I haven't seen raised concerning FanLib -- though I haven't read all the meta, and it's doubtful I could -- is that it offers nothing for fans of classic media.

I can understand its attraction for fans of series/franchises like CSI, House, Stargate, Harry Potter, even Star Trek and Star Wars. But what does it offer for fans of series/franchises that are no longer exploitable, and will likely never have a feature film, television movie or novelization made?

The list of fandoms currently "supported" by FanLib appears to be a direct lift from all of FF.net's categories. (I'm basing that on looking at how In the Heat of the Night appears on both FF.net and FanLib: In the heat of the night -- lowercase "h" and lowercase "n" for both. Also, FanLib appears to have the same problem as FF.net, where a series is alphabetized under "a" or "t" if its title begins with "A" or "The".)

So, while not all fans of older series have ported their fic over, the following series have been: Alias Smith & Jones, Bible, Crossing Jordan, Darkwing Duck, Diagnosis: Murder, Dukes of Hazzard, Dungeons and Dragons, Early Edition, Emergency!, Forever Night, Goonies, Greatest American Hero, Happy Days, He-Man, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Judging Amy, Lois & Clark, M*A*S*H, Night Court, Quantum Leap, Operation Petticoat, SeaQuest, Sledge Hammer, Sue Thomas: FBeye, Third Watch, Titanic, UFO, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Voyagers!

The above isn't a complete list, but these were franchises that, at present, looked likely not to be resurrected in film, novelizations (Lee Goldberg apparently has finished the Diagnosis: Murder books) or any other type of media adaptation. Obviously, unless God is coming from on-high, we're not going to see any new sections added to the Bible.

So, what do fans -- and obviously they exist -- of these older commodities hope to gain by posting their fic there? And how would/could FanLib hope to profit from them? Some of these franchises are between 30-40 years old, and both the creators and (some of) the actors have passed on; so, short of a séance or offering a channelling session with Sylvia Browne, the likelihood of getting these fans in touch with the "talent" is slim to none.

In its current form, FanLib can't fulfill its current fannish PR mission of being all things to all fans. In order to provide its corporate sponsors with what they're seeking, FanLib would surely have to narrow its focus. They'd likely have to limit their window of fandoms accepted to within a certain time frame. And/or, they would be the marketing arm of creating buzz and fandomonium for a new series/franchise that fans have presently not been willing to embrace.

Comments

[st-crispins.livejournal.com]

I'm in Man from UNCLE fandom, arguably one of the oldest fandoms and I see no one has posted on FanLib.

That's not because there isn't MFU fiction ---there is. But we have a couple of active archives that serve us well and there really isn't any need to go to FanLib.

We discussed FanLib on our lists and it was the general consensus that the situation was exploitive and really, there was no reason to go there.

[st-crispins.livejournal.com]

I should add that we have always been in touch with the creators (one is dead now) and the talent, so again, we don't need FanLib's assistance.

[beckyblack]

Good icon. :D Mm, not read any MFU fic in ages, must check some out. It was my first fandom from when I was tiny.

I'm in an older fandom too, The A-Team. Small but active, and like you we've got an established and active central archive, people post on FF.net and there's a number of smaller personal archives and several Yahoo groups. There's only 3 TAT fics on FanLib right now.

I looked at FanLib when it first appeared and read the T&Cs and went, "okay, put the internet down and back away slowly", then started following this comm and the controversy in general and saw I was right not to sign up there.

Like the OP says, it doesn't seem likely to be much use to any fandom that's not "current". Even the people likely to go there looking for fic don't seem to generally be the ones who might be looking for older and/or more obscure fandoms.

It might be useful for FanLib to have our stories on there, just to boost the numbers, but how useful to us would it be? Unless you post a story exclusivly on there the readers have probably already seen it elsewhere, so you're not increading the readership.

I say leave it to the kids and their current stuff that everyone will have forgotten about in ten years time.

[st-crispins.livejournal.com]

Ah, well, as you know MFU has ties to the A-Team so we're kind of distant cousins :)

Yeah, so far there's nothing FanLib is offering that we actually need. I suppose if they ran an MFU contest, we'd all jump in just to have our say.

There has been talk for years about bringing MFU back so we're not quite dead yet.

But until something like that happens, we're doing ok with what we have.

PS: here's the page for my own MFU fic :
http://file40.net/file40g/crispins/cris_page.html

And if you go to the links bar on my LJ, you'll find links to other parts of the fandom on the net.

Just FYI

[beckyblack]

Ah, well, as you know MFU has ties to the A-Team so we're kind of distant cousins :)
Hiya, cuz. :D I've never written any crossovers myself, since I can't see Solo turning into the charmless Stockwell, but I've read a few, including where they are brothers. And of course I adore the A-Team episode with David guest starring.

There has been talk for years about bringing MFU back so we're not quite dead yet.
Same with The A-Team, there's been a movie in development for years. Frankly I'd be nervous of what a horrible mess Hollywood would make of either a MFU or TAT movie.

I've had File40 bookmarked for years and pop over now and again when I get a sudden yen for some MFU action.

I dug out an appropriate icon! He's so cute!

[stewardess.livejournal.com]

*icon squee!*

[leethet.livejournal.com]

Also we're cunning and quick to spot THRUSH in whatever guise. :-)

[angiepen.livejournal.com]

I think, realistically, the chances of FanLib getting corporate events for more than... let's say a healthy fraction of even the current series and movies and such is pretty low. I'd be surprised if, five years from now, they'd had an official sponsored event for each of even half the "current" canon fandoms for the period from now through that time.

Which means that even now, they're counting on ad revenue for all their profits from the vast majority of the fandoms for which they have categories -- all of the old, classic, closed-canon properties and probably more than half the newer, current properties. That being the case, they're just as likely to make a few bucks off the eyeballs of Emergency! and Forever Night fans as they are off the eyeballs of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter fans.

At this point, fans who read/write the older fandoms are probably also watching movies and TV shows and reading books for more current fandoms, even if they aren't into the fanfic. I know I read/watch a lot of stuff for which I've never gone looking for fanfic and I doubt I'm the only one. So even the people who are drawn by the older, classic fandoms are just as likely to click through on an ad for a new HBO show or whatever.

That being the case, it all ads up. Drawing in Happy Days fans means more potential eyeballs for whatever ads they have running, and more people to potentially be interested in whatever sponsored event they might be running, even if it's not Happy Days. There's going to be a certain amount of overlap between the fan groups and their interests. And since I can't imagine it's costing them any significant amount of money to keep the archive up and going, once they've got bandwidth paid for, there's no reason not to provide space for the older fandoms even if they won't ever be able to run sponsored events for them. Anything that draws more eyeballs to the site is good for their sponsors and good for FanLib's revenue.

Needless to say, that doesn't mean it's good for the fans themselves. But then, we knew that. :)

Angie

[doire]

The list of fandoms currently "supported" by FanLib appears to be a direct lift from all of FF.net's categories.

So, does FFnet have a case for copyright violation against Fanlib? Using all of a section created for another user. Of course, the idea of a list of fandoms is free, but to use the same words...

[elf]

Lists are not copyrightable. Information is not copyrightable. (Phone books are not copyrighted.) Layout and choices are, but it's a pretty thin case. If Fanlib has made any changes at all to FF.net's listings, I'd guess there's no case.

I think the fact that Fanlib doesn't have a Books/Movies/TV/Etc sorting mechanism would get rid of most of the options to sue; they can claim they've arranged the information in a very different way. (IANAL. What I say is not legal advice.)