SquidgeWorld Updated TOS

[squidgestatus]

Based on some things I've been seeing around AO3 and Tumblr, I updated the SquidgeWorld Terms of Service. The Terms of Service are here: https://www.squidgeworld.org/tos

The text of the additions is here:

NEW - Added July 7th, 2021: Users will not add any link, in their profiles or in their profiles or in any posted work or comment that points to a fundraiser of any kind including, but not limited to, Patreon, Ko-Fi, or the like. The only exception to this is in the case of a piece of work that is of original work, meaning the fandom used is Original Work, and no other fandom is listed. The work must have original characters at all, and must not utilize any aspect of a fandom such as characters or relationships that stray from the "Original" characters and relationships listed in the child tags to the Original Work tag. You may, however, link to an off-site (non Squidge.org property) profile such as your Tumblr profile or such, and that site may link to whatever you'd like. Fanfiction and other fan works are guaranteed under the "Fair Use" clause, and are protected as long as the person posting it makes no money off of the work. People linking to Patreon or such and making money off of fanworks submit the SquidgeWorld Archive into legal jeopardy.

Comments

[silencer7]

I, for one, think that regulation should be completely directly and forever disregarded as uninforcable and unjust at best.
As for legal jeopardy, that's a nonsense claim at best, my neighbor, and so is to be disregarded.

[squidgestatus]

If someone writes an MCU or Star Wars fanfic and then monetize it with a link to Patreon or KoFi, Disney WILL ABSOLUTELY come after me. I will not open up SquidgeWorld or Squidge.org to that kind of lawsuit, and thus a ban on links to any moneymaking enterprise related to fanfic would absolutely be justified.

[silencer7]

Doesn't matter if they come after you; in fact, if you're afraid of that, then you're too timid to function. However, this's in no way any support for intellectual dishonesty, quite the opposite.
But pay no heed to the cries of the powerful corporations, as their opinions are totally irrelevant due to their resources to begin with.

[squidgestatus]

There is a difference from defending someone who writes fanfiction from a corporation and defending someone who is asking to be PAID for fanfiction, and is then in need of defense from a corporation. The former is something I did in the life of Squidge.org from 1994 through the early 2000s when whackjob lawyers didn't understand what fanfiction was. The latter is indefensible.

As I said in my comment on SquidgeWorld, if you do not like my position, feel free to delete your account and you can archive your stories elsewhere.

[silencer7]

No, I quite agree with the intellectual honesty, especially about not stealing copyright contracts.
So, if we're talking about intellectual honesty; there really is no possible conflict on that issue alone.
As far as copyright law goes; violating copyright is far more bother than it is worth, no matter if someone gets away with it or not- it is infinitely far easier to go with making up one's own story inside another person's universe and including a disclaimer than to violate copyright as it turns out.
As for the claims of rank; that's never going to work at all in your favor, but the situation is with intellectual honesty is completely agreed with immediately.
However, if you fear them coming after you, you pretty much make sure they will as it turns out.
Paid for writing fanfiction; basically that alone violates copyright law, not to mention the even more binding, and rightly so, matter of intellectual honesty.
The only way anyone would be able to be paid for a fanfiction is with a written contract with the copyright holder; anything else is highly illegal.

[silencer7]

The copyright rule is that if you want to make money writing a story someone else has a copyright for, you get their written permission, including a royalties contract; those do not exist for anything within the public domain, even if a modern company makes a series set therein; take "Ben Hur" for instance... been in the public domain since Lew Wallace's copyright for it passed away, so no corporation can dispute that; and historical records will prove them to have no case if they try.
This is in no way any endorsement of intellectual dishonesty, nor to be seen as such- good golly, man! That's indefensible at best!
But, if you fear them coming after you, you have by fearing it made certain they *will* come after you; by simply trying to avoid it and appease them.