Recently, our community has engaged in some great discussion regarding the sharing of fanworks for personal use. We understand that there has been some uncertainty and concern due to lack of available information regarding what is appropriate or not.
What qualifies as personal use? Elysian Fields defines personal use as the possession and/or individual sharing of a fanwork for the sole purpose of reading and enjoyment. Publishing-related actions, such as posting an author’s work to another site without permission, are not considered personal use.
Historically, Elysian Fields has not made statements regarding personal use because we feel that once fanworks are posted on the web, they are de facto available for public distribution and it is neither our right nor desire to police this process. However, we also wish to acknowledge that is important to be mindful of an author’s wishes regarding their published fanworks.
To that end, we are making EF author non-distribution wishes more accessible to the community as a whole by:
1) Creating a publicly accessible, author-updated non-distribution request list (found here)
2) Adding the following language to our Terms of Service:
Fanworks posted on Elysian Fields are available for personal download and personal reading distribution. You can find a self-identified list of authors who wish their works to not be shared among members here. Members are never allowed to re-post author's works to other sites without expressed consent of the author.
3) Adding the following language to our FAQ page:
As an author, what if I don't want my stories distributed off-site?
It is the author’s responsibility to manage wishes for non-distribution. If you would prefer that your stories not be shared among members, please note this in visible areas, such as in the "story notes" sections of your fics and on your membership profile. Please also add your name to the “Request for No Distribution” list found here. Members are never allowed to re-post author's works to other sites without expressed consent of the author.
As a reader, how do I know if an author requests no sharing of their work(s)?
EF maintains an author-updated “Request for No Distribution” list for current and previous authors, found here. Authors who are still members of EF will also often post this information on their fics and membership profiles. Authors on this list request that members refrain from sharing their works with others. Members are never allowed to re-post author's works to other sites without expressed consent of the author.
We have created these tools with the understanding that expressing requests for non-distribution is the sole responsibility of the author and that—while readers are expected to respect these wishes—this is not a policy that will be punitively enforced.
Thank you all for continuing to make the EF community a vibrant and considerate place.
--The Mods on October 23, 2018 01:09am 9 Comments
Very clear. Thanks Mods!
Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. *nods* Thank you!
Thanks guys, I think that covers it all nicely.
This is perfect, thank you.
Thank you! As someone who's had previous works shared without permission (not from EF, and I didn't care in the end, but been there) I appreciate your taking the guesswork out of it.
Excellent and needed update clarification of works and distribution. Thanks for updates and listing.
If this is might be correct forum for this question, can someone please let me know where to direct it? Thanks.
Hi momnesia, I completely understand how frustrating it is to love a story so much and then have the writer abandon it or disappear from Fandom entirely, and sadly have to admit that I am guilty of doing this myself. The short answer is, nothing happens to unfinished stories unless the original writer gives their express permission for someone else to take it on and finish it (this is pretty rare and I can't even think of any examples where this has happened), or the writer gets a new wind and comes back at some point in time to continue writing it, and sometimes finishing it off. Sandy_s is one such example of this. It is not permissible on this site for anyone to attempt to continue, as a ghostwriter or otherwise, to take over another writer's creative work without their permission. All you can really do is contact the writer as you've done, and they either respond or don't. With luck they may one day return and finish off their fic.
A well thought out and common sense way of dealing with the subject. Thanks!