And they wonder why we want to make fan graphics for ourselves...

[corrielle]

So... you know how one of the big concerns that many fannish folks had with the SOPA/PIPA business was that the scope of the laws would have included fan sites, icon makers, and basically anyone who posted any sort of picture from any sort of copyrighted work without the consent of the copyright holders? Yeah. The ones who want fans of their material coming to THEM and THEIR sites with THEIR ads when said fans want additional content relating to our favorite brand of crack series/movie?  They have every reason to be afraid of their fans as competition, because I just got a lesson in why I should be very glad that official channels aren't the only way I can get fandom graphics.

Here's what happened:



A couple of hours ago:

Me: Golly, I can think of no better use of my time right now than to stick Lannister-themed wallpapers all over my new phone.

*goes to tumblr favs page*
*saves pretty fan-made graphic of Jaime and Cersei to phone*
*gets Rae to show me how to adjust it to fit the screen*
*makes pretty, Lannister-y graphic new home screen wallpaper*

Time: about two minutes. (I had to look through a lot of favs to find the one I wanted.)

Me: Ok... now for my lock screen.

*Goes on tumbler looking for GoT iPhone wallpapers*
*Finds a Stark one from official site, wants a Lannister one (sorry, my dear wolfies...)*
*Attempts to go to HBO site using Safari on iPhone*
*Gets prompted to use mobile site, accepts*
*Pokes around at mobile site, finds out that none of the extras (like wallpapers) are accessible through mobile site. Has to figure out how to get back to regular site*
*Finally finds regular site.*
*Finds wallpapers.  YAY!*
*clicks "Download" button*
*Gets redirected to a page that informs me that the device I am using is not optimized for viewing contet*
*Screams "I'M TRYING TO DOWNLOAD CONTENT CREATED SPECIFICALLY FOR THE DEVICE I'M USING!!!!"*
*Goes to computer, tries to get to HBO site to download image and email to self on phone*
*HBO site takes forever to load*
*taps fingers*
*Finally finds page with iPhone wallpapers*
*Opens image, right clicks "Send image to"*
*Attempts to send image to account set up on iPhone*
*Outlook stops playing nice with rest of computer, shuts down, starts again in safe mode*
*Finally sends email, email arrives on iPhone*
*Open email, which contains a link, not a picture. Clicks on link.*
*Gets redirected to a page that informs me that the device I am using is not optimized for viewing content*
*WHAT IN THE SEVEN HELLS IS THIS.
*Goes back to HBO site.
*Finds image again.
*Is prompted to use mobile site or download app*
*Downloads HBO app*
*Pokes around app for a few minutes, and finds out that there is no way to get to wallpaper THAT way, either. Only recent production videos (pretty cool, but accessible more easily elsewhere), and episode guides*
*Deletes app*
*Girlfriend comes in and asks why I'm still doing this.*
*Tells girlfriend I've waited this damn long, I'm GOING to have my damn Hear Me Roar background.*
*Saves image to computer, hoping ugly "THIS IS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF HBO" watermark is covered up by unlock-y slide-y thing on iPhone*
*Attaches picture to second email*
*Email arrives*
*Saves image to phone*
*Makes image lock screen*
*Finds out that no, Copyright notice is NOT covered up my unlock-y slide-y thing. In fact, it is RIGHT above it, almost as if the lock bar is underlining HBO's right to my neato golden lion image with the Lannister words on it. Because this is totally what I want to be reminded of every time I have to unlock my iPhone.*
*Stubbornly keeps image as lock screen anyway*

Time: About an hour and a half, though I was doing all of this while watching Royal Pains and White Collar, but still.


Conclusion: *hugs fandom graphics makers* Never stop, you beautiful, talented people.  I don't have enough hours in the day to go through official channels for inferior work.

Comments

[shiftercat]

This and so much this. And more this. It's going to be years, probably, before they understand a couple of things:

Stopping piracy is so much easier if you change your business models to keep up with the times and give people what they want (cheap, easy, digital access) than to try to legislate it out of existence.

Stopping people from creating fan content will destroy the fanbase that pays them the most money.

It seems so obvious, but they're determined to cling to outdated business models and an UTTER lack of understanding as to how fandom works and therefore lines their pockets.

[sharpiefan]

I wonder if they'll manage to destroy it before they understand it, though, because it's looking more and more likely that's what's going to end up happening. Which makes me a very sad little fandom bunny indeed.

[shiftercat]

I don't know. I think not just fandom, but the populace at large struck a pretty telling blow against the current legislation - at the moment it's tabled indefinitely. They can bring it back up whenever they want, of course, but they didn't vote this week, and that was largely because suddenly there weren't enough sure votes in its favor.

Of course, Europe and Canada are now trying the same things, and Australia's had it on the table for a while, apparently. So I suppose we'll see. Unfortunately we can't let our guard down. But I have some hope, at the moment, that people may actually be able to pound the message into the brains of those in charge before anything truly horrible happens.

Some branches of some companies do seem to understand that fan content ought to be celebrated - the problem right now seems to be that consistently, it is only a branch of the company, while the other branches are busy trying to make people cease and desist and the one fun group is saying "wow, we love you guys". It's a start of change, though.

[corrielle]

I think not just fandom, but the populace at large struck a pretty telling blow against the current legislation - at the moment it's tabled indefinitely.

Thank heavens.

it is only a branch of the company, while the other branches are busy trying to make people cease and desist and the one fun group is saying "wow, we love you guys".

I've noticed this too... I wish I could remember company names off the top of my head, but I've seen places encouraging fanart (I know the author of the Temeraire series had a fanart contest, but she's like... the biggest published proponent of fanfic EVER, so I'm not sure she's such a good test case...) and I know that Lucasfilm actively encourages Star Wars fanfilms with original stories.

I think that the companies and individuals that hold the copyrights need to reconsider their. Right now, they seem to be working off of the assumption that ANY unauthorized use/downloading of their material loses them money. Which just isn't true, as this post about fandom and "piracy" points out rather eloquently. As far as I can see, the use of a picture or a screenshot to make an icon that might make new people go, "Who are those pretty people and what is that from?" *watches show* is free advertising, not damaging piracy.

And when it comes to the most heinous kind of media piracy, the SELLING of unauthorized DVDs, I think that fandom is in agreement with the copyright holders. In fact, I think that MOST fans would be appalled if anyone came into our communities and started offering to sell us pirated copies of the shows we love. I can see any poster who tried to either sell or buy unauthorized copies getting jumped all over by the mods of pretty much every comm I'm a member of. The comments would mostly consist of "Stop making us look bad!" and "Go buy the real DVDs and support the creators/actors/writers!"

[shiftercat]

They are currently working off the idea that any unauthorized use is stealing money right out of their wallets, and they are patently wrong. Because you're right - people DO see fanart and become fans! It is absolutely free advertising, and helps build goodwill for the show AMONGST existing fans, keeping them in the fandom.

I also think you're right that most, if not all, fandoms aren't friendly to pirated DVDs and their peddlers, although I'm not really in any communities of any sort at the moment.