There’s something that I fundamentally don’t understand about Article 13.
It doesn’t simply protect copyrighted content, it will also absolutely impact the bottom line of these big businesses too. This is how I see it.
Here’s my current fandom:
How did I get into Kingsman? Was it because I saw a trailer for it on TV and thought, “Hey, I should see that.”
Nope. It was via online fandom content almost two years after Kingsman: The Secret Service was released. I never would’ve given it the time of day if not for gifsets and fanfic that I saw and read before I’d even seen the movie. But I saw those things first, so the movie then caught my interest, and I watched it. Legally. I ended up purchasing movie tickets for the sequel, I bought the movies on Blu-ray, I bought some official Kingsman merchandise (don’t judge me), and I even spent a little money on one of the official Kingsman mobile games (like 20 dolla, and I’m not proud of it).
I spend a significant part of my online time interacting in the orbit of the Kingsman fandom. I look forward to the third movie (the actual third movie, not this weird prequel thing…ugh). I will actively spend money on the movie and probably some official merchandise when it’s released too. I also have an interest in the actors from the movie and legally seek out their other work (even Robin Hood, haaaa). Meaning I intend to SPEND MONEY on things related to Kingsman because fandom content keeps my interest going long beyond its official release. Fandom content is often what will catch my interest in the first place.
My fandom before Kingsman?
When I got into Marvel/Captain America, how do you think that happened?
Did I see trailers before other movies? TV commercials? Was it because of people I knew in real life who enjoyed it? Nope. I rarely see any promotional material for things because I don’t normally take in content in the traditional way (the same as most other Millennials and Gen Z, I’d wager). I knew of them, obviously, because they’re insanely popular. But I didn’t give a shit.
I didn’t give a lick about Marvel and it wasn’t until I saw some fan commentary and gifsets on Tumblr/in fan spaces of Captain America: The Winter Soldier that I was like, “Oooh, this sounds interesting. I need to watch this.”
And I watched it. Legally. And I bought it. Legally. And I went out and legally watched everything else Marvel. I bought legal/licensed Marvel merchandise. I bought Marvel comics, ffs. Do you think I cared about comics before that? At this point, I’ve probably spent a good few hundred dollars on Marvel related content. Probably closer to $1000 than $100. And that’s mild compared to some people!
Do you think I would’ve done any of that if I hadn’t first seen fan created content that technically uses copyrighted material?
I sure the fuck would not. I would’ve gone on not caring about it at all.
My point is, Article 13 is so fucking short-sighted. Fandom and creative content made by people not associated with these businesses often makes or breaks that content. How many people do you think got into Marvel the same way I did? How many millions of dollars have people spent on Marvel related merchandise because fandom content fostered their interest way beyond “See it in the movie theatre, then go home and forget about it?”
Here’s another example for the other end of the spectrum:
Avatar. The James Cameron movie. It made $2.7 billion at the box office worldwide. That’s nice. But does anyone really give a shit about it? I’ve never seen it. Don’t have any desire to see it or the supposed upcoming sequels. The only online content I see about it? Mocks it. There is no fandom.
To compare fandoms on Ao3:
No one gives a shit. No one is looking for Avatar. Maybe the sequels will do well, I’m not a psychic. I have no idea. But my point is, there is no longevity there. No one is looking for official Avatar merchandise. No one is creating works about it that keeps interest going years after it was released. And continued interest means continued profit.
So Avatar did really, really well at the box office. Exceptionally well. And then?
Are people buying Avatar clothing? Books? Mugs, tchotchkes, spending thousands of dollars to meet the cast and creators at conventions? Special editions of the movies? Collector’s items?
Google “Avatar pop” and what do you think comes up? Pop! figures for the Avatar movie? Nope. There aren’t any. Are there Pop! figures for Avatar: The Last Airbender, which has a healthy online fandom presence? Yep.
Supernatural is an excellent example as well. A small show on a struggling network. Isn’t it on season 247 at this point? What do you think helped it last as long as it has? All that sweet network promo? The A-List status of its stars (hahahaha)?
HAAAAA! NO! It’s the fucking fan content! All the fanvids, fanfic, artwork, gifsets, commentary, discussions, meta, and beyond. All those creations get seen by hundreds, thousands of people who may have never heard of it before. But it’s that kind of content that sparks an interest. If you’re in that fandom, think of the coolest piece of art (or the best fanfic), that’s what inspires people to seek something out. That’s what cultivates an interest for years, including purchasing god knows what for god knows how much money. Terribly photoshopped ~official~ promo pictures and a couple commercials ain’t gonna do it.
Does the below image make me go “LOL WHAT? wats happening? wats going on? wat is this????”
Ya. Dark, morbid, funny. Sounds interesting…
Does the below official image make me go, “Oooh, gotta watch whatever that is!”
It sure the fuck does not. Sorry Jensen Ackles, you’re good looking and all, but nah. Can’t say I have any interest in whatever that is. WHY ARE YOU IN A CAGE? WHAT IS THAT CHAIN FOR? help me i’m scared
ANYWAY. Which content style above is going to inspire and cultivate enough of a longterm interest that people are willing to buy board games, clothing, jewelry, DVD sets, magazines, go to conventions, buy god knows what else, and spread the word about the show? For over a decade? It ain’t the second picture, I can tell you that much.
Fan content creates new fans and cultivates longterm interest which earns big businesses more money.
That is one of many reasons why Article 13 is shit. For fan content creators and for big business. It’s not a threat to the big business bottom line, it’s free promotion.
I BEG YOU. DO NOT SCROLL PAST THIS.
Need the EU’s Directive on Copyright
Article 13 explained to you or a friend in a different way you might get? READ OP’s post now and pass it on!
I mean… what keeps a fandom like Supernatural alive constantly throughout 14 seasons?
Fic, art, gifs, meta, and a thriving fandom that creates this community. This is the community that drives people to buy all the official merch, to support the charity events run by the actors, to spent big bucks on official conventions, and keeps people engaged with the show. Would a fandom like this have any hope of surviving without the fan-created content? If we were forbidden from creating this family online?
Yeah, this is important. Article 13 MUST NOT happen.
If you make it so people can’t interact with your creation, they won’t.
It’s as simple as that.
Don’t get me wrong – I loved Fallout 3 and 4. But what really drew me into the fandom? I started paying 4, had an idea in my head, and wrote a few short chapters about my Sole Survivor and Hancock for some friends of mine. Said friends encouraged me to put it up on AO3 and suddenly I was getting kudos and comments and everything. Which led me to meeting other fans and forming amazing friendships.
Fast forward to a little later and I was now heavily into a fandom that otherwise would have just have been a short blip on my video game radar. What encouraged me to go get Fallout: New Vegas? It wasn’t an advertisement. I can’t recall ever seeing an ad for Fallout: New Vegas. It wasn’t a review in a magazine. I did indeed read a magazine review on it back when it first came out and that actually drove me *away* from the game because it was heavily criticized and the article it made it sound like it wasn’t a full Fallout game (which clearly was inaccurate). What got me to give it a chance (about 7 years later) was the fandom.
And now I buy official Fallout merchandise. Everything from Pop figures to loot crates to vault boy blankets.
It’s the fandom that drew me in and the fandom that keeps me fueled, even in between game releases. And it’s fan-created content that encourages me to go see movies, watch tv shows, and play other videogames. And that leads to me buying more merchandise.
Yes, my poor wallet would probably be grateful if it got relief from this, but my point is that fandom content works as a wonderful promotional tool. Companies need to learn how to best embrace that and utilize it to their advantage, not steer away from it.
The thing is, these things are owned by companies and these companies absolutely don’t have an idea about any of it. They are led by people who don’t even know what fandom is and does. They are so disconnected from the people who pay their wages it’s insane.
I’m sure someone in the comments have already said this, but these companies do this all the time. They freaked out over video players (no one will pay to see movies in the theater if they can just swap tapes and watch them at home!), portable music players, Napster (remember them?).
Old people stuck in old business models run these companies, not young people just out of college who know how their peers want to consume media and how to capitalize on it. That one senator who asked Mark Zuckerberg how they can possibly make money off Facebook if it’s free to use is a great example of this.
So the exec’s cry about loss of revenue, always framing it as ”the poor artists can’t make a living off their art anymore!”
Ever heard of libraries? They’ve been around for thousands of years and yet we still have people that live on their writing.
I think once the law goes into effect they will feel the effects and perhaps change their minds, but by then it will be too late.
I don’t think they will connect the dots to come to the correct conclusion.
For these companies every moment someone interacts with ‘their products’ NEEDS to be monetised, because if not it’s lost money. They see it as the zero sum game, everything is chargeable, any moment when they’re not making money is basically lost money.
See how the gaming industry changed recently – almost no AAA content is free content anymore, it’s put on sale, stuffed into lootboxes, sold as DLC, etc. People are expected to pay for everything and they’re making absolute bank on gamers and expect the tendency to keep (Blizz makes INSANE money, for example) to the point where a game selling in millions is a disappointment (see Square’s reaction to Tomb Raider). EA ate and shat out so many studies they’ve basically ran to the ground and yet no connection has been made in the exec’s heads.
The execs in charge won’t see what we see. When they see their gains drop, they will find some bullshit explanation for it and push for more advertising and charging for the product.
This whole thing is just an expected end game for www – they saw this massive space that people use and needed to come up with the way to monetise it, because in their heads things being free is just not computing.
The city of Parma, Missouri, has seen mass resignations
among the local police force after the city’s first black female
mayor, Tyrus Byrd, was sworn in on Tuesday. Five of the force’s six officers handed in their resignations to the outgoing mayor — but they weren’t the only ones to quit on the new mayor.
Beyond microaggressions.
This is what black women have to deal with in any professional situation. This is the most extreme, but we are constantly having to prove our competence.
I feel for this woman. I really do.
But those cops who are such racist pieces of shit they refuse to work for a Black woman? Good riddance. Mayor Byrd and the whole community will be better off without them in positions of authority.
Wait, it’s bigger than this. This mayor ran on an anti-corruption platform, and there were a total of twenty people who resigned from various parts of the city – city attorney, police, water supervision. It’s suspected that they were all linked to the previous mayor and were part of the corruption she was campaigning against. Citizens have been complaining for years about the corruption with the previous Mayor Randall, and it’s suspected that these resignations were from his cronies.
Which makes her the one of the most effective mayors in the U.S. simply by being elected.
Going through the records to figure out just how corrupt/racist/abusive they were before she stepped into Office and handing out indictments/canceling pensions is gonna be hard enough. But, at least, now she won’t have to fire their asses.
THIS WILL AFFECT THE WAY EVERYONE USES THE INTERNET!
DO YOUR RESEARCH!
CALL/EMAIL YOUR MEPs!
KEEP THIS HORRIBLE LAW FROM GETTING PASSED!!!
Just fyi this will likely affect non-Europeans as well. It’s easier for a website like YouTube to just restrict ALL copyright instead of just sectioning off what they need to. They’ll probably let bigger YouTubers still operate, but small time content creators will be a thing of the past.
Do not harass writers for creating content you know you shouldn’t be looking at!
What I mean is, do not harass writers for creating content that upsets you when you knew it would upset you but you chose to engage with it anyway. This applies more to online works, but is still relevant to books, movies, etc.
If you see a fic includes a pairing you hate, don’t read it.
If you see that someone has tagged their work with things like “suicide,” “incest,” “underage,” “dubcon/noncon,” “sexual assault/rape,” etc., and you know those subjects upset you, don’t read it.
If you don’t want to see a certain character sexualized and an artist has marked their work NSFW, don’t look at it.
If a movie is rated R for drug use and you do not want to see that, don’t watch it.
Obviously the content creator in an online space has the responsibility to tag their work appropriately, and failure to do so should be (politely) corrected. But if you see something tagged as containing content that you know will legitimately trigger you, DO NOT ENGAGE WITH THAT CONTENT AND DO NOT HARASS THE CREATOR BECAUSE YOU CHOSE TO ENGAGE WITH IT ANYWAY.
In this day and age, we have more tools than ever to block content we don’t want to see. Block tags, block users, do what you have to do to avoid engaging with content that compromises your mental health–but don’t go out of your way to harass the people who create that content, because you aren’t doing anyone, including yourself, any good.
Do not force the responsibility of your well-being onto people who did not ask for it.
I'm Still Kicking 