OTW Fannews: Everyone wants the fan market

[otw-staff.livejournal.com]

• Publisher Random House launched Suvudu Universe, a community generated content site. Writer Justin Landon explained what a bad deal it is. "Here’s how Suvudu Universe works. The content creator signs up to be a part of the program, ‘subscribing’ their RSS feed to Suvudu Universe. If the content creator wants to share it with Suvudu Universe there merely tag the post 'Suvudu'. The 'editors' review that content and assuming it meets their criteria they repost it to the Suvudu Universe feed." The rights to that work though? Not only do contributors have no right to be paid, they grant a wide range of rights to Random House in perpetuity. "What Suvudu Universe is offering is no different than the underhanded rights grab Random House attempted as part of their eBook only imprints."


• Negotiating rights for fanwork often doesn't turn out well. "When is a fan page not a fan page? When it's a Facebook page caught in a battle between its fan creator and a corporation desperate to turn it 'official.' That's the story behind BET's attempted acquisition of a Facebook page for its series The Game. The ongoing contest between the corporation and the Facebook page's creator, Stacey Mattocks, culminated in a lawsuit...Mattocks claims the struggle for control eventually resulted in a takedown notice from the site because she wouldn't allow BET to wrest the page away from her."


• The YouTube site Machinima "wants to raise $80 million to create an online video subscription service" further monetizing machinima content. "'The fanboy viewer is crazy, engaged and ravenous,' Machinima CEO Allen DeBevoise told Reuters in an interview. 'We intend to raise capital to be a company in the spirit of HBO and AMC, but in an over-the-top world,' he said. 'Over-the-top' refers to viewers who watch TV shows online, bypassing traditional cable or satellite services."


• A press release on PR Web announced that LiveLuvCreate Inc Adds Fan Fiction Facility to Site. "Specialist image creation website, LiveLuvCreate Inc, is now offering its website visitors with another means of expression after adding a fan fiction section to the site. The new facility has proven extremely popular, with more than one thousand fan fiction additions being made to the site in the space of just one week."
  

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