ETC: Everyday Thoughts Collected - Latest Comments in White House Aide Resigns Over Plagiarism

Re: White House Aide Resigns Over Plagiarism

RThomasETC — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 03:25:08 -0000

That was a little more than I bargained for but worth the read. Very interesting. I knew that kind of stuff existed but I didn't know it was to that extent.

Re: White House Aide Resigns Over Plagiarism

RThomasETC — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 17:25:08 -0000

That was a little more than I bargained for but worth the read. Very interesting. I knew that kind of stuff existed but I didn't know it was to that extent.

Re: White House Aide Resigns Over Plagiarism

Ellie — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 10:52:00 -0000

Oh, I should add that there's not one 'guy' trying to publish HP Lexicon. It's a group of people. And HP Lexicon isn't (I think) an actual host site for HP fanfic.

Re: White House Aide Resigns Over Plagiarism

Ellie — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 10:32:41 -0000

Fanfiction is fan generated fiction based on a published author's original work (or a movie, or a television series). The original work is considered the canon and supplies all of the basic information such as the world/universe that the stories are set in and (most importantly) the characters. The canon universe is then used to create new stories in the fanverse, creating a fandom version of that work. In highly developed fandoms like HP (Harry Potter) or the Whedonverse (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel) you wind up with things like the HP Lexicon (a great portion of the HP lexicon is not based on Rowlings original work, but things made up by subsequent fanfic authors). About 99% of all fanfic is produced by women, ranging from teenagers on up (very often HP is what gets teens into fanfic in the first place). Originally fanfic was distributed through 'zines, but since the internet arrived it has existed on fanfiction.net (aka, the pit of voles), livejournal, and geocities, along with sites specifically devoted to hosting stories based around certain fandoms or pairings.
There are two questions with fanfic. One, is it legal? Two, since most fanfic is usually based around slash or het pairings and romantic subplots (very often between two charcters that weren't involved in the canon universe [in point of fact many fanfic writers would consider a relationship extant in the canon universe as gen (general fiction), even if the story is romantic]), is it even worthwhile?
The reigning authorial stance, is that, so long as it doesn't cross the line into illegal behavior (see here adult/minor pairings; HP is the only fanverse this is a big issue for) and does not generate any profit, it should be tolerated, if not encouraged. Only a few authors, Robin Hobb or Anne Rice (TM), actively are trying to root out fanfic. Anne Rice (TM) is so famous for this that it has become traditional to put a trademark symbol after her name, and fanfic based on her work is almost completely underground. Others like Diana Wynne Jones (my favorite author) or JK Rowling actually tolerate or even encourage fanfic.
Two answer the second question, I think that the huge amount of literary creativity that fanfiction represents is a good thing, but the fact that it is going towards poorly written fanfic rather than creating new work is a huge loss. I understand the motivation for creating it. Readers form emotional attachments to characters and don't want the last page of the book to be the end of the story. Or, in situations like X-Files where there is an obvious romantic relationship that isn't explored in the canon, the fan wants to let out frustration by developing it. But fanfic doesn't tend to have very high standards with issues like Mary Sues (perfect characters that are meant to be stand-ins for the fan herself) and PwoP dominating. So it doesn't seem to be as elevated as it could be if people were developing their own work and sharing it.
And I'm sure that was much more than you wanted to know...

Re: White House Aide Resigns Over Plagiarism

RThomasETC — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 09:34:43 -0000

Ellie ... what is "fanfiction?" I think I know what you are talking about ... like the guy JK Rowling is upset with for creating the Harry Potter Lexicon without her permission or input?
and I am astonished that Goeglein did it as well. I mean... he works in the White House, just by his position people would want to hear what he had to say.

Re: White House Aide Resigns Over Plagiarism

BTCarolus — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:52:00 -0000

Oh, I should add that there's not one 'guy' trying to publish HP Lexicon. It's a group of people. And HP Lexicon isn't (I think) an actual host site for HP fanfic.

Re: White House Aide Resigns Over Plagiarism

BTCarolus — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:32:41 -0000

Fanfiction is fan generated fiction based on a published author's original work (or a movie, or a television series). The original work is considered the canon and supplies all of the basic information such as the world/universe that the stories are set in and (most importantly) the characters. The canon universe is then used to create new stories in the fanverse, creating a fandom version of that work. In highly developed fandoms like HP (Harry Potter) or the Whedonverse (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel) you wind up with things like the HP Lexicon (a great portion of the HP lexicon is not based on Rowlings original work, but things made up by subsequent fanfic authors). About 99% of all fanfic is produced by women, ranging from teenagers on up (very often HP is what gets teens into fanfic in the first place). Originally fanfic was distributed through 'zines, but since the internet arrived it has existed on fanfiction.net (aka, the pit of voles), livejournal, and geocities, along with sites specifically devoted to hosting stories based around certain fandoms or pairings.

There are two questions with fanfic. One, is it legal? Two, since most fanfic is usually based around slash or het pairings and romantic subplots (very often between two charcters that weren't involved in the canon universe [in point of fact many fanfic writers would consider a relationship extant in the canon universe as gen (general fiction), even if the story is romantic]), is it even worthwhile?

The reigning authorial stance, is that, so long as it doesn't cross the line into illegal behavior (see here adult/minor pairings; HP is the only fanverse this is a big issue for) and does not generate any profit, it should be tolerated, if not encouraged. Only a few authors, Robin Hobb or Anne Rice (TM), actively are trying to root out fanfic. Anne Rice (TM) is so famous for this that it has become traditional to put a trademark symbol after her name, and fanfic based on her work is almost completely underground. Others like Diana Wynne Jones (my favorite author) or JK Rowling actually tolerate or even encourage fanfic.

Two answer the second question, I think that the huge amount of literary creativity that fanfiction represents is a good thing, but the fact that it is going towards poorly written fanfic rather than creating new work is a huge loss. I understand the motivation for creating it. Readers form emotional attachments to characters and don't want the last page of the book to be the end of the story. Or, in situations like X-Files where there is an obvious romantic relationship that isn't explored in the canon, the fan wants to let out frustration by developing it. But fanfic doesn't tend to have very high standards with issues like Mary Sues (perfect characters that are meant to be stand-ins for the fan herself) and PwoP dominating. So it doesn't seem to be as elevated as it could be if people were developing their own work and sharing it.

And I'm sure that was much more than you wanted to know...

Re: White House Aide Resigns Over Plagiarism

Ellie — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:19:37 -0000

The prevalence of plagiarism in our society is both scary and sad to me. Colleges have moved to using services like turnitin.com, which compares student papers against the entire internet, every paper ever submitted to the site, and a huge number of print sources. Amazingly enough, students submit plagiarized papers to it, and are shocked when they're caught and the professor takes disciplinary action.
I think that, at least with people in their teens and twenties, it is tied in to pirating music and movies, and writing fanfiction (which is essentially a type of blatant plagiarism). They don't understand the abstract idea of intellectual theft, so they have no problem with plagiarism, or pirating a song. They don't think they're hurting anyone.
Now why do white house staffers do it? I don't know.

Re: White House Aide Resigns Over Plagiarism

RThomasETC — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 23:34:43 -0000

Ellie ... what is "fanfiction?" I think I know what you are talking about ... like the guy JK Rowling is upset with for creating the Harry Potter Lexicon without her permission or input?

and I am astonished that Goeglein did it as well. I mean... he works in the White House, just by his position people would want to hear what he had to say.

Re: White House Aide Resigns Over Plagiarism

BTCarolus — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 14:19:37 -0000

The prevalence of plagiarism in our society is both scary and sad to me. Colleges have moved to using services like turnitin.com, which compares student papers against the entire internet, every paper ever submitted to the site, and a huge number of print sources. Amazingly enough, students submit plagiarized papers to it, and are shocked when they're caught and the professor takes disciplinary action.

I think that, at least with people in their teens and twenties, it is tied in to pirating music and movies, and writing fanfiction (which is essentially a type of blatant plagiarism). They don't understand the abstract idea of intellectual theft, so they have no problem with plagiarism, or pirating a song. They don't think they're hurting anyone.

Now why do white house staffers do it? I don't know.