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podfic, permissions, and false analogies
Inevitably, given the recent controversies, I have been thinking about the issue of podfic and permissions. (For the record, before I go any further, I would like to note that I have given blanket-ish permission for people to podfic my stories.) In particular, I'm thinking about the analogy sometimes made between podfic of a fanfic and fanfic of a professionally-made source text. "You didn't ask permission to write that fanfic," the argument runs, "so you have no right to say that people should ask permission to podfic it, or to impose conditions on how it can be podficced."
It's a false analogy for a couple of reasons.
1) Words.
A fanfic does not reproduce the words of the original. Some fanfic writers may borrow a little bit of dialogue from the source text, but mostly, they create new words, and also new situations or new views of canonical situations.
If you podfic a fanfic I wrote, on the other hand, it's still the same words. What you're doing is taking my words, the very story that I wrote, and putting it into a new format that I don't have control over. You're also, probably, archiving it in places that I don't have control over either. I don't have the ability to take your podfic down if I decide I don't like it. I'm not saying I should, because you put a lot of work and creativity into that podfic. But I put work and creativity into my words, too. When a podficcer says that they should have blanket permission to podfic anything they like, however they like, and post it wherever they like, they're asking for control over the fanfic author's words and they're not giving any control in return.
This also applies to things like editing a fanfic for podficcing purposes, or adding music. What if you add a song that I think the characters would hate, or that I think is the wrong tone for my story? Again, if you want to do that kind of thing without permission, you're asking for control over my words.
2) Distinction and authorization
When I write a Rivers of London fanfic (I use this example because it's a book fandom for a series that is still being written, unlike, say, Sherlock Holmes with its stable canon and its dead author), no one is going to mistake my story for something Ben Aaronovitch wrote. Nor for something he authorized, something that's "official" or canonical to Rivers of London. There are a couple of reasons for that besides the fact that my name is not Ben Aaronovitch. For one thing, readers acquire my fanfic in a completely different kind of space than Aaronovitch's novels. They don't buy my story in a store, whether bricks-and-mortar or online; they find it on my journal or on AO3, in spaces that are explicitly fannish and unofficial, and therefore distinct. And of course they don't buy my story at all; unlike most source texts, fanfic is distributed for free. There are clear boundaries between fanworks and their source texts. Therefore, since my fanfic is clearly unauthorized and unofficial, no one will think that my story is really part of Ben Aaronovitch's canonical Rivers of London series.
The boundary between fanworks and podfics based on them is much less clear. They're available in the same kinds of spaces, fannish spaces, and because of how fandom works, there's an assumption of cooperation that wouldn't be made about fanfic of a professional source. Someone could easily assume that a podfic fully represents my story. Perhaps they assume that I listened to it and okayed it before it was posted. They might think that the choices you made in recording (tone, pace, emphasis, etc.) are the choices I would have made had I recorded it myself, when in fact I might have made completely different choices. Maybe that line you thought was funny, I meant to be serious, or vice versa. Maybe I think Character X should sound sad here, not angry. Your interpretation of the story in podfic may be drastically different from how I myself see the story, yet because of the lack of clear boundaries, someone may take your podfic as authoritative and assume I agree with your interpretation.
This is something I try to be sanguine about, with varying success. Other fanfic writers may be deeply uncomfortable with it, and so they might want to hear how you read before they give permission, or impose limitations on what you can do (e.g. no editing), or even hear the finished product before you post it so they know you pronounced the character names right and that the line they think is kind of hilarious is still hilarious. I don't think this makes them hypocrites, or mean, or podfic haters. Remember, this is their words. It's different from a sequel or prequel or remix because it's still their actual words.
"But," one might object, "I'm sure J.K. Rowling didn't have control over how the Harry Potter audiobooks (or films, for that matter) were made! And playwrights don't get to veto performances!" No, but they get paid. They sign over their right of control in exchange for money (and they can always refuse to do so, if they like). We don't get paid in fandom; we just get the recognition of our work. And a podfic that can change that work, that will almost inevitably change a fan writer's words (either literally changing them through editing or more subtly changing the meaning due to performance choices) makes that simple fannish equation a lot more complicated. The insistence I've seen from some quarters that everyone should give unconditional blanket permission to podfic, not to mention the no-permission-is-necessary stance that some podficcers have, takes away the author's right to refuse to have their words changed by someone else. And that really troubles me.
I'm not saying that podfic is bad or wrong or creepy. All I'm saying is that the relationship between podfic and fanfic, between podficcers and fanfic writers, is different from that between fanfic and source texts. Fan writers and professional creators are not part of the same community, but fan writers and podficcers are, at least supposedly. And because of that, because of the indistinction of the boundaries, we need to be sensitive to each other. Fanfic writers are not creators of commercial product, monetarily compensated, whose work and reputations will never be affected by fanfic, podfic, etc. and who therefore really have no right to a say in it. Fanfic writers write for the love of it, and because we are part of a community, we are affected by what people do with our stories. It would be nice not to be treated like the enemy.
Comments are, for the moment, open, but if things get ugly I reserve the right to freeze threads, use the banhammer, or shut the whole post down.
It's a false analogy for a couple of reasons.
1) Words.
A fanfic does not reproduce the words of the original. Some fanfic writers may borrow a little bit of dialogue from the source text, but mostly, they create new words, and also new situations or new views of canonical situations.
If you podfic a fanfic I wrote, on the other hand, it's still the same words. What you're doing is taking my words, the very story that I wrote, and putting it into a new format that I don't have control over. You're also, probably, archiving it in places that I don't have control over either. I don't have the ability to take your podfic down if I decide I don't like it. I'm not saying I should, because you put a lot of work and creativity into that podfic. But I put work and creativity into my words, too. When a podficcer says that they should have blanket permission to podfic anything they like, however they like, and post it wherever they like, they're asking for control over the fanfic author's words and they're not giving any control in return.
This also applies to things like editing a fanfic for podficcing purposes, or adding music. What if you add a song that I think the characters would hate, or that I think is the wrong tone for my story? Again, if you want to do that kind of thing without permission, you're asking for control over my words.
2) Distinction and authorization
When I write a Rivers of London fanfic (I use this example because it's a book fandom for a series that is still being written, unlike, say, Sherlock Holmes with its stable canon and its dead author), no one is going to mistake my story for something Ben Aaronovitch wrote. Nor for something he authorized, something that's "official" or canonical to Rivers of London. There are a couple of reasons for that besides the fact that my name is not Ben Aaronovitch. For one thing, readers acquire my fanfic in a completely different kind of space than Aaronovitch's novels. They don't buy my story in a store, whether bricks-and-mortar or online; they find it on my journal or on AO3, in spaces that are explicitly fannish and unofficial, and therefore distinct. And of course they don't buy my story at all; unlike most source texts, fanfic is distributed for free. There are clear boundaries between fanworks and their source texts. Therefore, since my fanfic is clearly unauthorized and unofficial, no one will think that my story is really part of Ben Aaronovitch's canonical Rivers of London series.
The boundary between fanworks and podfics based on them is much less clear. They're available in the same kinds of spaces, fannish spaces, and because of how fandom works, there's an assumption of cooperation that wouldn't be made about fanfic of a professional source. Someone could easily assume that a podfic fully represents my story. Perhaps they assume that I listened to it and okayed it before it was posted. They might think that the choices you made in recording (tone, pace, emphasis, etc.) are the choices I would have made had I recorded it myself, when in fact I might have made completely different choices. Maybe that line you thought was funny, I meant to be serious, or vice versa. Maybe I think Character X should sound sad here, not angry. Your interpretation of the story in podfic may be drastically different from how I myself see the story, yet because of the lack of clear boundaries, someone may take your podfic as authoritative and assume I agree with your interpretation.
This is something I try to be sanguine about, with varying success. Other fanfic writers may be deeply uncomfortable with it, and so they might want to hear how you read before they give permission, or impose limitations on what you can do (e.g. no editing), or even hear the finished product before you post it so they know you pronounced the character names right and that the line they think is kind of hilarious is still hilarious. I don't think this makes them hypocrites, or mean, or podfic haters. Remember, this is their words. It's different from a sequel or prequel or remix because it's still their actual words.
"But," one might object, "I'm sure J.K. Rowling didn't have control over how the Harry Potter audiobooks (or films, for that matter) were made! And playwrights don't get to veto performances!" No, but they get paid. They sign over their right of control in exchange for money (and they can always refuse to do so, if they like). We don't get paid in fandom; we just get the recognition of our work. And a podfic that can change that work, that will almost inevitably change a fan writer's words (either literally changing them through editing or more subtly changing the meaning due to performance choices) makes that simple fannish equation a lot more complicated. The insistence I've seen from some quarters that everyone should give unconditional blanket permission to podfic, not to mention the no-permission-is-necessary stance that some podficcers have, takes away the author's right to refuse to have their words changed by someone else. And that really troubles me.
I'm not saying that podfic is bad or wrong or creepy. All I'm saying is that the relationship between podfic and fanfic, between podficcers and fanfic writers, is different from that between fanfic and source texts. Fan writers and professional creators are not part of the same community, but fan writers and podficcers are, at least supposedly. And because of that, because of the indistinction of the boundaries, we need to be sensitive to each other. Fanfic writers are not creators of commercial product, monetarily compensated, whose work and reputations will never be affected by fanfic, podfic, etc. and who therefore really have no right to a say in it. Fanfic writers write for the love of it, and because we are part of a community, we are affected by what people do with our stories. It would be nice not to be treated like the enemy.
Comments are, for the moment, open, but if things get ugly I reserve the right to freeze threads, use the banhammer, or shut the whole post down.
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Consider this paragraph that I have misappropriated from you:
If you fanfic a profic I wrote, on the other hand, it's still the same characters. What you're doing is taking my characters, the very characters that I created, and putting them into a new setting that I don't have control over. You're also, probably, archiving it in places that I don't have control over either. I don't have the ability to take your fanfic down if I decide I don't like it. I'm not saying I should, because you put a lot of work and creativity into that fanfic. But I put work and creativity into my characters, too. When a fanfic author says that they should have blanket permission to fanfic anything they like, however they like, and post it wherever they like, they're asking for control over the profic author's characters and they're not giving any control in return.
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I think the problem on all sides is that we have very different relationships to our works, that we have different understanding of what kind of community fandom is (if any), and that we have very different relationships to said community. Why shouldn't kindkit feel weird about having the recording associated with her fic? Other folks feel weird having their name as beta on a fanwork they have issues with or having manips or fanart they don't like associated.
The other thing, of course, is that the fanfic analog wouldn't be of fan writers using pro work characters but rather of fanfic of fanfic. And it's not like this debate is settled yet. Many writers feel uncomfortable letting others ply in their sandbox, and while there are many reasons to find that hypocritical, there are also good arguments to be made as to why interaction between two fans is different from a fan's relationship to a pro creator. I don't want to reiterate all the points, but the main ones are access to the creator (the two are on the same level as opposed to let's say JKR); possibility of conflation of the works (again, not likely with JKR); and the issue of credit, given that one's name and other people's thanks are the only types of currency we have in fandom... [I made a longer post on the similarities and differences a while back HERE.]
The important thing I'd argue is that we need to remember that we have needs, anxieties, and wishes and so does the other party. I'd hate, or example, to be a writer feeling guilty, because someone has already podficced my work, but I'd also hate being told that my accents didn't appeal to an author or my reading wasn't up to par. I actually start recording a lot of times before I ask permission or check in with the author when they have a BP, because I need to know whether the prose works for my reading. But I hope I've never put an author under pressure and will certainly be more careful from here on out. (And if I don't hear back or they say no, it's just another lingering file on my HD to be deleted eventually...) Likewise, I'd much prefer to get a no on a request than to "audition" and then be told that I wasn't up to par. And maybe an author does feel they don't like my reading (I tend to link them to my work, so there's really no need to audition, I'd say, but then that puts the burden back on the author, so I'm not sure...), but a plain, No thank you might avoid a lot of hurt feelings and doesn't seem more demanding than requesting a sample and then turning the request down. (<- this is more in general and less to your comment, but I was on a roll...indulge me? :)
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I did want to point out, though, that I'm a he, not a she.
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And yes, that's exactly what I meant!!! I think none of us want to purposefully make anyone else uncomfortable, so the question is, how do we find ways to make it OK for most. And that won't be achieved, I believe by being on the extreme end but rather by talking and sharing experiences and realizing that we may feel differently about the same things, have different likes and dislikes. And when we get to a place where your discomfort as author outweighs mine as podficcer, I continue to believe that I need to step back, take down the work, and accept that. But I think that empathy going both ways and conversations like the one you are having here may help all of us get a better sense of why and how we see fandom and fan works and community interactions.
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Yes, it could be that the turnover time is really short. And that could indicate that large portions of the story were already podficced. But likewise an author who doesn't reply back or says no, because they don't like the person' style/voice may actually give permission to someone else (that has happened to me before). So it's maybe more a matter of plausible deniability? Like, you can't prove that I didn't do this fic in the short time span just like I can't prove that you purposefully hated my reading. And everyone's hopefully not as upset as they might be. (As for the short turnaround--I organized a collective podficcing of a series of stories by multiple authors recently. The last author never responded, so I posted the collection without it to AO3. Within an hour, they contacted me, I found a fourth reader, they recorded and edited it, I changed the cover image, reformatted everything and uploaded the new version. It was a short story and we all had time on our hands, so it worked...but not I'm thinking the author might have thought I had ity all already preplanned...when I really didn't :)
Which brings me to my personal response. Recording the fic is by far the smallest effort in a podfic production for me. Let's say it's a 6K story, which translates to about an hour. I may record the story before I ask permission, which takes around 90 minutes. (If the story is much longer, I probably will only record the first hour or so before i ask). I then ask. Editing the story will take me 8-10 hours, finding music and editing it, creating the cover image will take another 2-3 hours. So as you can see, those 90 minutes that I have initially invested are the much smaller part of the equation. So for me personally, I don't think the case you are describing would occur, but if it did generally, I'd still suggest it's a fear or suspicion rather than the certainty (and all of that presupposes that the author WOULD have a problem with my simply recording it...not all authors do--even those who may feel uncomfortable seeing publicly shared recordings of their work...but then many writers hate having their fic printed out or the formatting changed, and many others do not...)
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In any case, I'm not criticizing podficcing in the way that some pro authors criticize fanfic. I'm not saying it's illegal, immoral, or icky, and I'm certainly not telling people they shouldn't podfic! All of which I thought was pretty clear in my post, so I don't understand why you're making a manifestly false comparison except to demonize my argument by association.