No, really. I've read your response several times and you're still not making any sense.
For the zillionth time: free speech has nothing to do with commercial enterprises and personal property. Free speech means that the U.S. government can't quash your right to say what you want where you want, provided you're not falsely yelling fire in a crowded theater, or defaming or libeling someone.
It does not, and never has, applied to fanfic. It does not, and never has, apply to private property, copyrighted materials, commercial enterprises, or the like. Free speech doesn't even apply to LJ, and that's even when it was owned by a U.S. company. Why? Because LJ is not a governmental institution.
Furthermore, being told by people who think fanfic writing is a stupid hobby and by copyright owners that they don't want you appropriating the source material for your own fanworks is not harshing on your "right to free speech" and is not squashing your civil rights, no matter how hard you squint. And saying it's true, does not make it true no matter how many times you say it or make that argument.
Opposition to fanfic is not at all like opposition to someone's right to get married to someone they love.
One is a hobby. One is a real live human being.
You can stop writing fanfic.
You cannot stop being gay, bi, or straight. Sure, you can go into denial, and act like you're not any of those things, but it doesn't change who you are.
You see the difference, right?
And no, one pattern is nothing at all like the other.
For a start, there is no inherent right to fanfic. No, really. There isn't. The issues around fanfic are commercial issues, not an issue involving someone's right to have equal protection under the law. Fanfiction has no legal protection in the U.S. because we don't own the source material. Now, we may be in fandoms where the copyright owners are just fine with fanfic and other fanworks to the point of encouraging it (provided they're the only ones to make money off of it). There are other fandoms where the copyright owners are not okay with it and will stomp it out if they see it.
Know what? The copyright owners have every single right to stomp out fanworks if they want to. They own the source material.
A better analogy is this: fanworks is a lot like borrowing a car. Some car owners are perfectly cool with giving you free access to the keys and letting you take the car for a spin, provided you don't start charging all your friends when you decide to give them a ride. Some car owners don't want you touching their car at all, and will call the police and/or their lawyer if they see you looking at the car funny.
I write fanfiction, so guess which car owner I think is right? But know what? I respect that car owner that wants me to stay away from the car. That's my choice, because I think it's the right thing to do. But I'm not going to get on anyone who decides to write fanfic in fandoms where the copyright owner is opposed, either.
And, yes, I agree, commercial issues may impact you professionally should you get outed, but they're not going to take away your civil rights just because you write fanfic. However, it's happening less and less these days. There are authors out there right now who've gotten book contracts because of their fanfic (Hello, Cassie Claire). There are teachers using fanfic to teach creative writing (I have a couple on my Flist).
So the whole, "Onoes! I'm being oppressed because I write fanfic!" does not fly, especially when you make such an insulting, not to mention offensive, comparison between someone's hobby and someone's civil rights.
no subject
No, really. I've read your response several times and you're still not making any sense.
For the zillionth time: free speech has nothing to do with commercial enterprises and personal property. Free speech means that the U.S. government can't quash your right to say what you want where you want, provided you're not falsely yelling fire in a crowded theater, or defaming or libeling someone.
It does not, and never has, applied to fanfic. It does not, and never has, apply to private property, copyrighted materials, commercial enterprises, or the like. Free speech doesn't even apply to LJ, and that's even when it was owned by a U.S. company. Why? Because LJ is not a governmental institution.
Furthermore, being told by people who think fanfic writing is a stupid hobby and by copyright owners that they don't want you appropriating the source material for your own fanworks is not harshing on your "right to free speech" and is not squashing your civil rights, no matter how hard you squint. And saying it's true, does not make it true no matter how many times you say it or make that argument.
Opposition to fanfic is not at all like opposition to someone's right to get married to someone they love.
One is a hobby. One is a real live human being.
You can stop writing fanfic.
You cannot stop being gay, bi, or straight. Sure, you can go into denial, and act like you're not any of those things, but it doesn't change who you are.
You see the difference, right?
And no, one pattern is nothing at all like the other.
For a start, there is no inherent right to fanfic. No, really. There isn't. The issues around fanfic are commercial issues, not an issue involving someone's right to have equal protection under the law. Fanfiction has no legal protection in the U.S. because we don't own the source material. Now, we may be in fandoms where the copyright owners are just fine with fanfic and other fanworks to the point of encouraging it (provided they're the only ones to make money off of it). There are other fandoms where the copyright owners are not okay with it and will stomp it out if they see it.
Know what? The copyright owners have every single right to stomp out fanworks if they want to. They own the source material.
A better analogy is this: fanworks is a lot like borrowing a car. Some car owners are perfectly cool with giving you free access to the keys and letting you take the car for a spin, provided you don't start charging all your friends when you decide to give them a ride. Some car owners don't want you touching their car at all, and will call the police and/or their lawyer if they see you looking at the car funny.
I write fanfiction, so guess which car owner I think is right? But know what? I respect that car owner that wants me to stay away from the car. That's my choice, because I think it's the right thing to do. But I'm not going to get on anyone who decides to write fanfic in fandoms where the copyright owner is opposed, either.
And, yes, I agree, commercial issues may impact you professionally should you get outed, but they're not going to take away your civil rights just because you write fanfic. However, it's happening less and less these days. There are authors out there right now who've gotten book contracts because of their fanfic (Hello, Cassie Claire). There are teachers using fanfic to teach creative writing (I have a couple on my Flist).
So the whole, "Onoes! I'm being oppressed because I write fanfic!" does not fly, especially when you make such an insulting, not to mention offensive, comparison between someone's hobby and someone's civil rights.