Dodgy reposting of fanfics and more without permission

[amberdreams]

I've had a heads up as follows:
ladydragon76

Oct. 15th, 2014 07:20 pm (local)

Hello, I wanted to let you know that your LJ is one that is being stolen from by the person runninghttp://fanfic-journal.com/

Despite multiple people telling them they have no right under CCL to steal our intellectual property, they refuse to stop. Right now, as me and others dig for the proper way to shut them down, we can only warn people they've stolen from and let you know that you can complain, and they seem to be removing entries. This person actually said to me in response to me saying what they were doing was wrong:

“and why not? Until they explicit deny it, i have all right to do anything. Its basic freedom rights of peoples. If you dont want to you fanfic been read or copied, dont make it public.”

They then edited that comment because CLEARLY they know they’re in the wrong, but I’ve got the email in case anyone wants a screencap. The thing is, they aren’t going to stop.

If you wish to complain you can go here:

http://fanfic-journal.com/complain-here/

Be clear because they are slimy. Request they delete all your entries and never copy any more.

Best wishes, and sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

I checked this website out and it is indeed snaffling random fanfics and other posts - like the Episode Tag page at spn_bunker, for instance. Now I don't know whether anyone is bothered about this, I'm not sure whether I am nor not, but you might want to have a quick look yourself to see if anything you thought was posted privately has been reposted their without your leave. It certainly smacks or rudeness, at best, even though they don't appear, from what I saw, to be claiming ownership or authorship of the stuff they are reposting.

Comments

[alexisjane.livejournal.com]

Dear god, are they still at it!?
At least their page seems to be covered in snagged posts saying how bloody awful they are for stealing stuff now! x

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

You've obviously come across them before then.

[alexisjane.livejournal.com]

I've seen warning posts about this site from a few people over the last year.
If it was a rec thing it wouldn't be so bad but its just randomly taking stuff from peoples journals without notification and not asking permission.
My concern is not having control who I'd be posted with. I know some of my stuff is kinda hardcore but can you imagine some poor gen writer ending up next to extreme underage puppy play or something : ( It's not good.
Thank you for spreading the word, Hunny xx

[thursdaysisters.livejournal.com]

Yeah i noticed some of my fic on there a while back, is it basically one giant rec list?

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I guess so, I don't really see the point of the site - some of the posts don't seem to link back to the stories while others do - they certainly don't seem to be claiming other people's work as their own so ????

[thursdaysisters.livejournal.com]

Are writers worried that privately posted fic is now being made public?

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Possibly, though I'm not sure how a bot could strip out a fic if it was friends only.

[thursdaysisters.livejournal.com]

Okay I looked at the site a little more, it's totally reposting fic to generate traffic for click ads. Not cool.

[ramblin_rosie]

Oh, good, I'd intended to shoot you an email about this. Talk about pugnacious stupidity--idjit CLEARLY has no idea what copyright and plagiarism really mean, and from what someone posted on fanficrants, he's trying to protest that he's not a thief because text isn't real! ARGH.
His LJ name, incidentally, is metapodik--banning the journal may not block the bot, but I figured it was a useful precaution.

[metapodik.livejournal.com]

"he's trying to protest that he's not a thief because text isn't real! ARGH."

Text (i mean, characters, bytes) is not something what you can keep in arms, not hat, not thing from real life, from real world. But, for example, printed text - it is. Thats, what i mean.

And yes, calling me thief its public insult and slander.

[ramblin_rosie]

As I said on your site, I used to manage permissions for a university press, so I know the law, not only in the US but also in the UK. You are violating authors' intellectual property. From the US Copyright Office (emphasis added):

What Works Are Protected?
Copyright protects “original works of authorship” that are
fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device. Copyrightable works include the following categories:
1 literary works
2 musical works, including any accompanying words
3 dramatic works, including any accompanying music
4 pantomimes and choreographic works
5 pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
6 motion pictures and other audiovisual works
7 sound recordings
8 architectural works
These categories should be viewed broadly. For example,
computer programs and most “compilations” may be registered as “literary works”; maps and architectural plans may be registered as “pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works.”

How to Secure a Copyright
Copyright Secured Automatically upon Creation
The way in which copyright protection is secured is frequently misunderstood. No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright.

Also from the US Copyright Office:
"Can I copyright my website?
The original authorship appearing on a website may be protected by copyright. This includes writings, artwork, photographs, and other forms of authorship protected by copyright."

You're wrong. And yes, you are a thief. Truth is a defense against the charge of slander!

[metapodik.livejournal.com]

ramblin_rosie:

As I said on your site, I used to manage permissions for a university press, so I know the law, not only in the US but also in the UK. You are violating authors' intellectual property. From the US Copyright Office (emphasis added):
What Works Are Protected?
Copyright protects “original works of authorship” that are
fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device. Copyrightable works include the following categories:
1 literary works
2 musical works, including any accompanying words
3 dramatic works, including any accompanying music
4 pantomimes and choreographic works
5 pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
6 motion pictures and other audiovisual works
7 sound recordings
8 architectural works
These categories should be viewed broadly. For example,
computer programs and most “compilations” may be registered as “literary works”; maps and architectural plans may be registered as “pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works.”

How to Secure a Copyright
Copyright Secured Automatically upon Creation
The way in which copyright protection is secured is frequently misunderstood. No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright.
Also from the US Copyright Office:
"Can I copyright my website?
The original authorship appearing on a website may be protected by copyright. This includes writings, artwork, photographs, and other forms of authorship protected by copyright."

You're wrong. And yes, you are a thief. Truth is a defense against the charge of slander!

You means, what you text is same to tangible thing?
Maybe same, but not equal.

Again, i dont argue what ppl have copyrights on its own created original content.
I just tell, what digital goods != real world goods.

Just because when you copy, from other, they bytes not disappeared.

> "You're wrong. And yes, you are a thief. Truth is a defense against the charge of slander!"

Its public insult, i will sue you. You should prove that "truth". Its truth for you, but not for me. Let judge to decide.

[ramblin_rosie]

i will sue you
Good luck with that.

[dolnmoon.livejournal.com]

I checked it out and low and behold they even have this warning posted 4 or 5 times. lol

It's a bot site and it doesn't seem to be claiming as author or artist, it seems to be just posting things tagged with specific tags, randomly.

I think it is operated much like the tumblr AO3 wincest blog where it snags and reposts any fic on AO3 that is tagged as Wincest or Sam and Dean pairing.

Harmless really, informational for anyone looking for a fic rec/listing blog.

[denig37]

The site claims to be "proudly powered by wordpress", it's not, I checked so they are violating WP's copyright too.

[reggie11.livejournal.com]

This very post is posted on their site! Have you told them you want to go on their exclusion list? It's a completely shitty thing to set up if you ask me. Now you can't even safely tag your work for fear that some dickhead will program a bot to repost it. If they were just posting excerpts it probably wouldn't be an issue because I guess it lets people see your work and then go to your site to read the rest but to have the entire posts up! It's really scummy.