Disclaimers
From Fan History Wiki
[edit] Disclaimers in fanzines
Disclaimers have historically appeared in fanzines, dating back to the 1970s. The following is an example of a disclaimer from a Star Trek fanzine dating to 1977:
- Copyright September, 1977, by Love Child Press, D.T. Steiner, Ed. All rights reassigned to individual authors and artists. No material may be reprinted without the written consent of the editor. Only original material herin is covered by this copyright, and no attempt is made to infringe upon the copyrights of Paramount Studio, Norway Productions, NBC, or any other holders of copyright on Star Trek material.
[edit] Disclaimers in media fan fiction
In February 1998, Sci-Fi Entertainment ran an article by Melissa Perenson on fan fiction. It referenced the disclaimers saying:
- For the moment the studios are leaving fanfic sites alone, even when they've gone after fan Web sites with a vengeance. All fanfic carry a disclaimers, noting that the writer is just burrowing the characters that belong to someone else. If they're smart, studios will continue to let fanfic thrive, if for not other reason that the fact that fanfic helps generate interest in the series. "It's a vicious circle, really," explains Rebecca Anderson. "I read fanfic because I'm at least partially interested in the series to begin with; the reading fanfic sharpens by interest in, and knowledge of, the series."
[edit] Disclaimers in bandfic
Disclaimers have long played a role in the Real Person Fic (RPF) community. Most bandfic communities who might have interaction with traditional media based fan fiction communities found them extremely necessary for their own sanity and safety in the fan fiction community. This is because of long standing fears in the traditional media based fan fiction communities that the material will result in fan fiction authors getting sued and the actions of real person fiction authors getting their material targetted and shut down. The traditional media based fan fiction communities also has some components that view this material as intrinsically different, not fan fiction, slander and an invasion of privacy. When real person fic, bandfic would appear, there would often be conflict. The bandfic and larger real person fic community reacted by demanding disclaimers on all real person fic material. This allowed for the uneasy and generally loathed existence of this material near traditional on-line fan spaces. Attitudes towards disclaimers relaxed when larger automated sites, like FanFiction.Net, did not require them for this material. As a result, many young bandfic fen in more isolated communities are not aware of them and did not and do not use them from 2000 to the present. The parts of the bandfic community with members who have been more involved in fandom, operating on the peripherial of traditional media based fan fiction communities have historically always used them dating back to the mid 1990s. Parts of the bandfic community tied in to on-line erotica communities remain more isolated, not seeing themselves as connected to either community. Like teen fen tracing their roots FanFiction.Net communities, disclaimers are a hit or miss affair. (Survey of Literotica and Nifty disclaimers.)
