1997
From Fan History Wiki
1997 was a year of fannish self awareness. Adult members became aware of the need to create archives with material for younger readers. Teen members realized they needed to create their own communities if they wanted to participate. Fen realized they needed to pay attention to pro-author demands.
The relationship between professional authors and fan writers has not always been the best one. A lot of ill was generated towards fannish authors, especially in light of the Marion Zimmer Bradley incident. There would be a flash point this year in terms of the evolving relationship between fan and professional authors. This would involve Dee's Dragonrider Art Gallery. It received a cease and desist notice from representatives of Anne McCaffrey.
By 1997, the fan fiction community was aware that there were younger readers out there. They had special needs in terms of content acceptable material. In reaction to this issue, and the feelings of polarization of some members of the adult community feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of smut out there, a number of fan fiction archives and communities had sprung into existence to address these needs. Two such archives and communities was the Usenet group alt.startrek.creative.all-ages, run by Stephen Ratcliff in the Star Trek community, and the G-Files, an X-Files fan fiction community hosting only stories that were rated G.
Teen members were becoming a more visible and active force in the fan fiction community. Unfortunately for them, there was a lot of legislation out there which made adults uncomfortable with having this age group as full participants in their on-line activities. Some of this legislation included acts like the Communications Decency Act. This act made it service providers, archivists and e-mail distributors liable if adult material knowingly fell in to the hands of minors as a result of the archivist, service providers actions. Butts needed to be covered. At the same time, there had been historical borders keeping out teen members from age statements to a general inability of teens to be full members because they lacked the money to buy zines and attend conventions. In response to these issues, teens created their own communities. Some of the communities they created included the DD Teens, the p/t teens, and the b5teens.
Real person fan fiction communities were starting to gain a larger net presence this year. The Beatles fan fiction community was one of the communities that gained a larger kick start. "With Strings Attached" was the influential story published this out of that community. It would inspire many Beatles stories for years to come.
See also:
- Canon released in 1997
- Cease and desist letters recieved in 1997
- Conventions held in 1997
- Fan fiction archives founded in 1997
- Fan fiction awards given in 1997
- Legal issues in the fan fiction community in 1997
- Fanzines published in 1997
- Mailing lists founded in 1997
- Technology innovations in 1997
- Terminology originating in 1997
- Usenet groups created in 1997
