What if Tapas made a Fanworks genre?

DarJodo 2020-05-13 01:54:20 UTC #41

Damn, a lawyer that draws. Whatever is next, a doctor that practices magic on the side?

KytCordell 2020-05-13 01:55:53 UTC #42

I play a high elf sorceror in DnD, does that count?

DarJodo 2020-05-13 01:57:27 UTC #43

Oh, fine, you just stand there and make this one feel like an underachiever.

KytCordell 2020-05-13 01:58:15 UTC #44

Hey, at least you've got a good sense of humor. That's becoming increasingly rare nowadays.

nostalgicroxas 2020-05-13 01:59:10 UTC #45

So the short of it is, what does Tapas consider itself as.

In lamens terms, an "archive" like Ao3 considers itself and is used to protect fanworks as a whole that are brought under it's umbrella. Or a "search engine", where it has little to no responsibility for what is found through their site -this being obviously not the case.

skicoak 2020-05-13 01:59:14 UTC #46

Which bothers me so much about the Tapas statement that they'll turn off the ad revenue share for fan works...

It meets both those criteria.

KytCordell 2020-05-13 02:01:03 UTC #47

That's kind of a stupid thing to announce. They should probably just outright ban fanworks or pretend like it doesn't exist.

KytCordell 2020-05-13 02:03:02 UTC #48

Tapastic is absolutely not going to qualify as an archive or search engine. It's basically a media production/curation platform. It should either ban fanwork or continue to idly ignore it and pretend it isn't there and remove it if a big IP holder starts making noise.

It doesn't matter what Tapastic "sees" itself as lol. What matters is what evidence will suggest it is. Tapastic doesn't really get an opinion. It's actions and content are what would be evaluated. I mean, technically Pirate Bay could see itself as a peer to peer seed museum. Doubt that's gonna hold up in court though.

skicoak 2020-05-13 02:08:04 UTC #49

That pretend it doesn't exist ship has sailed ...whatever mechanisms they're using to ban mature content from the app should easily identify copyright and trademark infringements.

A simple search of keywords from the site's search engine just reveled 440-ish Steven Universe fanworks.

And I was hardly trying.

rajillustration 2020-05-13 02:19:40 UTC #50

For me it's not so much about whether or not it's legal, but just about the vibe of the site in general. Tapas is already on thin ice for me, because I just don't feel like I, as a story teller, really fit in with the types of stories that are read. The diversity of readership on this site already tends to have somewhat tunnel vision in what they want to read, and what those things should be drawn like, despite Tapas trying out different things to try and get them to branch out.

I don't have a problem with fanfic, and I don't consider it a lesser artform or anything, especially since a bunch of adults write it so that they can get real deal jobs writing for TV (I have a friend who is a film major and this is just what she does). And, a lot of illustrators write it to get jobs (if you want to work at Marvel, write short marvel comics for your portfolio.)

BUT, what fanfic does do is perpetuate certain very niche audiences that are only looking for one thing in one style. Most fanfic doesn't encourage reaching out of the box and have a lot of inside jokes that assume you already know the fandom. Not even if you know the show--but the fandom of the show. It's like the niche of the niche. A fun place to hang out, but not something I'd want to commit to long term. Like once upon a time I was super into Harry Potter, but then I grew up. Do I read or remember those fics anymore? Nope. Fanfic audiences are very flash-in-the-pan here one second, gone the next.

But what I do appreciate about Tapas, and what brought me here in the first place, is their encouragement to make original works. I actually came here because of the comic, Terror Terror Terror, because it was so freakin weird and original. I want things to stay weird around here, and that can only be done by encouraging things that are new and different.

Fanart again, it's fine, I make a lot of it when I want a cozy, comfortable place, but...when you're doing it for views it becomes such a job. So, in all, I think fanart on this site is fine, but yes, it shouldn't be on the front page--we should continue to encourage original stuff because the readers looking for the niche fanstuff already know where to find it. It's the originals that need the leg up.

skicoak 2020-05-13 02:54:52 UTC #51

While I agree with most of your main points, I would be remiss if I didn't point out most companies do NOT want you submitting works featuring their intellectual properties. It creates a massive legal headache of potential claims based on the work you were not contracted to submit.

Even the old reliable portfolio review at cons have changed. Working editors have told artists I know they can't look at unsolicited works because of the legal risks. Various artists will still give you a critique but it's not a direct channel to employment.

Marvel doesn't even accept submissions anymore. They review the market and contact creators based on their other published works.

I definitely agree 100% with this!

Awesomeness_Studios 2020-05-13 02:58:03 UTC #52

Hmm this is very interesting. I've actually been thinking of creating a fanworks comic recently and uploading it to Tapas, but if that's harmful then maybe i should just do another site (I'd still be uploading original works to Tapas of course bc i love it here )

However, this has made me realize how few fancomics we have here. Like I only remember seeing one AU in the 3 years I've been here.

EDIT: To follow up on this, I'm starting to think restrictions for fanworks would be good. Chances are, they'll gain a lot of popularity just for being fandom stuff, so putting these restrictions can help remind the creator that they don't own the universe they're using and that they shouldn't let it get to their head (like in my case: i'm already in love with the characters i wanna use, but i gotta acknowledge that I don't own them and that i can't use them for too many marketable things)

joannekwan 2020-05-13 03:03:43 UTC #53

@ratique Some food for thought for the staff if you guys aren't tracking this thread already.
Sound points being made in regard to the image Tapas projects concerning the content presented on the site, and from the legal side, KytCordell has some solid insights.

I've seen a a lot more on the novel side of things, but I suppose that follows a long tradition as seen on other sites like WP and AO3. It's a bit disheartening since most on-going webcomics are original and I'd like to see webnovels catch up in that regard.

ratique 2020-05-13 03:43:41 UTC #54

Without going through the last 53 replies (sorry guys XD), I actually checked if fan works are very prevalent on the site and they aren't. Tapas is home to mainly original creations.

Because of that we likely won't create a genre for Fanworks.

skicoak 2020-05-13 04:05:16 UTC #55

What kinda community happiness coordination is that?!

Let me ask directly then, what is the official Tapas ruling on the legality of fanworks? And specifically in regards to how it could potentially be handled if Apple pursues intellectual property infringement like they pursued "mature" content ?

nostalgicroxas 2020-05-13 04:18:33 UTC #56

I'm sure in your downtime you'll peruse the many replies this thread's gotten

AmysGames 2020-05-13 04:40:46 UTC #57

Legal aspects aside, if there was a fanworks genre... I mean, I don't know that I'd exactly like it, I feel like Tapas is more geared toward original works, but other than that I'd be pretty indifferent? It wouldn't be that different from posting original content on Tumblr or something.

This I totally agree with. I've done a lot of short spin-off comics, and it would be nice to have a better way to organize them, haha.

ratique 2020-05-13 05:34:30 UTC #58

If we're coming across creations that infringe on copyright, it's removed from the site. I'm not going to be able to talk about fan works overall, since you probably know as well as I do that they can live in a weird gray zone.

No I have a life aside from work! (that I fill with drawing comics... okay, I don't have a life.)

rajillustration 2020-05-13 06:40:45 UTC #59

I say that because I went to school with a guy who got hired by Marvel because a short fancomic he did using superhero characters went viral on tumblr (although I think it was a Batman comic lol). So art directors do notice these things and they are scouting on those sites. If you want to do the work, you gotta show you can make the work. But I dunno if I'd put fanfic on Tapas because, unlike Tumblr which is more of a portfolio type site, Tapas is directed more solely on self-publishing. Which is a different intent, IMO.

But yeah, submissions are closed at those places nowadays. They'd probably never get through the slush pile :P.

nostalgicroxas 2020-05-13 07:10:09 UTC #60

HAHAHAHAHAHA Tumblr a portfolio site.. That's a good one. The organizational control one has on that site is paltry compared to devART, or even Pixiv.

But yeah - it's largely not a thing to have people look over your portfolio's at a convention space now. If you do bring one and it's looked over, you're "hitting the pavement" as they say, but you're not going to catch the bees. It's largely a relic of the past.

Summary

I know from touring the school DigiPen just outside Seattle, WA that basically if you want to work in US games in any capacity, you need to do both your undergrad and uppergrad at that college, and prove that your work can excel both alone and in a team. The game Portal was a "final project" that's something you complete in your final year there with a team either assigned or self-picked, and it runs as a beta. And the college boasts that at the end of the year is a "faire" of sorts where you showcase whatever you have in booths, and fancy-coats from the companies will walk through to sample students's work and a lot of them will get jobs that way in the industry. The college also likes to boast that it communicates with the industry to find out what talent they're short on, and oddly enough, they want more coders/soundscape creators/level builders than "Character" or "Monster" or "Illustration" artists. But it's not an easy college to attend, and not a cheap one (both in tuition and living spaces, since the college lacks dorms).

Getting back to Tapas and the Fanworks. I am glad to hear that Tapas staff, for as limited as they are right now, will remove the IP infringing material from the site. It sounds like it's not an automated bot system either, since art styles can be similar but not be fanworks at all. Likely I'm guessing it's something like "spend 20min per every 6hours" digging to see what you can find, if all of the stuff to keep the site stable and secure are taken care of.