(Post a new comment)

	immlass 2008-02-06 04:33 am UTC (link)
	The first thing I heard about it was that it was released under a no-derivative-works Creative Commons license. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	photosinensis 2008-02-06 05:34 am UTC (link)
	I looked at the license, and was pretty dismayed myself. Of course, I'm a purist that thinks that anyone using a license more restrictive than CC-BY-SA is being a bit stingy. I blame all of that Stallman I read a few years back. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	tofuknight 2008-02-08 12:13 am UTC (link)
	I was pretty weirded out by that too, but his website did say just the "good" parts: share with everyone, just leave my name on it. It seems pretty odd to write a fanfic and then say OMG dun write any fanfic about it! It'll be interesting to see what happens if someone asks to put up on the interwebs a fic that takes off somewhere on his novel. I hope he's cool with it. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	iwanttobeasleep 2008-02-06 04:34 am UTC (link)
	ZOMG awesome. Steven Brust ♥ (Reply to this)

	wolfsamurai 2008-02-06 04:35 am UTC (link)
	Gasp! Steven Brust and Firefly! Two great things that surely shall taste great together. (Reply to this)

	keleri 2008-02-06 04:52 am UTC (link)
	I got a compilation of a few of his novels for Christmas and thought they were pretty interesting, but when that popped up on his blog feed I decided I had another author to add to my DO WANT list. (Reply to this)

	breecita 2008-02-06 08:14 am UTC (link)
	... The part where he wrote fanfic and you are emphasizing that it is free perplexes me. Should he be charging for it? (Reply to this)(Thread)

	esclaramonde 2008-02-06 11:28 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, I don't think Firefly is one of the ones that pays for tie-ins? (Reply to this)(Parent)

	velvet_mace 2008-02-06 03:46 pm UTC (link)
	He hoped to have it be a licensed fanfic but apparently Joss Weadon doesn't do that. So he ended up writing it anyway Goldburg gets paid for his fanfic all the time... though why... (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

breecita
2008-02-06 07:31 pm UTC (link)

Well, yeah. But I guess I'm missing what's noteworthy about this, aside from the fact that it's pretty damn wanky to make a big deal about how you're writing unauthorized derivative work and then scream "NO DERIVATIVES!" in your copyright.

Granted, I find it wanky when normal fanfic authors do it, too. I never believed my fanfiction deserved protection. I just wanted to not get sued.

Ahhh, the good old days.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	velvet_mace 2008-02-06 07:44 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, that is pretty hypocritical. Also stupid, because we'll fanfic his fanfic if we want to, just the same way we'll fanfic someone elses canon. Most peoples fanfic aren't worthy of continuing, but if they are, hey, we are all wandering the commons here -- as long as we credit, I see no moral difference between fanficing canon and fanfic. (Reply to this)(Parent)

jabberwockypie
2008-02-06 08:12 pm UTC (link)

Yeah, that's kind of asshatty. It's too bad because normally I think Steven Brust is awesome.

Granted, I find it wanky when normal fanfic authors do it, too. I never believed my fanfiction deserved protection. I just wanted to not get sued.

Seriously. It always makes me think "Wow, you actually think I want your Mary Sue?" (That's probably not completely fair. There are some really good OCs, but more often than not it's a Suethor who gets pissy about it.)

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	agent_hyatt 2008-02-06 08:55 pm UTC (link)
	Well, Suethors are more likely to scream "THIS SUE IS MINE DUN STEEL!!11!1" (Reply to this)(Parent)

	puipui 2008-02-06 08:00 pm UTC (link)
	Should he be charging for it? Well, he does have that "donate" link down at the bottom of the page. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	breecita 2008-02-06 08:03 pm UTC (link)
	Oh. Oh my. Fail. :( (Reply to this)(Parent)

	lab 2008-02-06 11:06 am UTC (link)
	So he wrote fanfiction, called it 'novel' and published it under a CC-NC-ND license, the most restrictive one of the bunch? That's pretty wanky in itself. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	chibikaijuu 2008-02-06 02:56 pm UTC (link)
	Seriously, wtf? It's not like it's a licensed tie-in being distributed for free - it's a fucking fanfic. And he's decided No Derivs? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	lab 2008-02-06 03:34 pm UTC (link)
	It's a BY-NC-ND license, so, as close to traditional copyright as you can get with CC. I'm more inclined to roll my eyes/point and laugh than celebrate the fact than an author used creative commons to distribute his work because it's not (going to be) commercially published anway, as far as I can see (If it were, than that would be awesome). (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	lab 2008-02-06 03:36 pm UTC (link)
	) the fact that, and run-on sentences ftw. facepalm* (Reply to this)(Parent)

jabberwockypie
2008-02-06 08:53 pm UTC (link)

I really love Steven Brust's writing. I've never seen Firefly (I know, I know, I fail at fandom. Sorry.) but if I was a fan, I'd certain.

That being said, I really wish someone would write something derived from this just for the potential wanky lulz.

Come to think of it, isn't his whole Phoenix Guards thing based on Alexandre Dumas' stuff? Kind of loosely since it's a different universe and has elves Dragaerans and stuff, but still. And I know Dumas' stuff is public domain, but one would think that he'd have a more relaxed attitude toward the whole thing because of that.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	jabberwockypie 2008-02-06 08:54 pm UTC (link)
	Ack, that should be "~~elves~~ Dragaerans". (Reply to this)(Parent)

	tofuknight 2008-02-08 12:19 am UTC (link)
	Once I read enough to do it, I totally intend to fanfic his No-Deriv fanfic. I'll let everyone here know about it, but I make no promises that it'll be any good... (Reply to this)(Parent)

	brennalarose 2008-02-06 01:57 pm UTC (link)
	So, Joss isn't asking for royalties when other authors play in his world? I can has hope for humanity back nao? (Reply to this)(Thread)

	velvet_mace 2008-02-06 04:44 pm UTC (link)
	That's why it's being uploaded for free -- Joss didn't authorize this. Brust did it anyway, just like the rest of us. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	white_serpent 2008-02-06 08:05 pm UTC (link)
	Yes, but "the rest of us" don't go to the trouble of actually submitting books to Joss, hearing they aren't allowed, then going ahead and posting them anyway. The CC license which allows no derivative works may very well come back to bite him. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	brennalarose 2008-02-06 11:13 pm UTC (link)
	sighs, takes hope back to the pawn shop (Reply to this)(Parent)

puipui
2008-02-06 08:05 pm UTC (link)

So, Joss isn't asking for royalties when other authors play in his world?

Actually, from what I've been made to understand, Joss has specifically stated that he doesn't want other authors to play in the Firefly world. That's why he doesn't allow tie-ins. I don't think he cares about fanfic, really, but I can't see him being happy about a Creative Commons tie-in novel that he specifically didn't authorize.

It's not that Joss has said "it's okay, you can play, and I don't even want royalities" it's that Joss has said "it's not okay, you can't play" and Brust did it anyway under Creative Commons so that he wouldn't need official permission. Or that's how I understood it, anyway. Granted, I could be wrong.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	brennalarose 2008-02-06 11:14 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, dear. I didn't even get a good price on that hope. Thanks for the info. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	threegoldfish 2008-02-06 05:31 pm UTC (link)
	But is it any good? (Reply to this)(Thread)

	iwanttobeasleep 2008-02-06 06:16 pm UTC (link)
	I'm liking it so far. He has a really good feel for the characters and the writing is good. Better than any official tie-in novel I've ever read. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	worstangel 2008-02-06 11:34 pm UTC (link)
	I read it today, it's all right. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	undomielregina 2008-02-06 08:46 pm UTC (link)
	Since people seem so concerned about the CC license used, I thought I'd suggest having a look at comments 29-31 on the announcement post. Brust makes is quite clear that he's not trying to prevent fic based on the novel. (Reply to this)(Thread)

white_serpent
2008-02-06 09:43 pm UTC (link)

Yes; I did see those.

However, by placing a CC license on it at all, Brust is explicitly asserting that he holds copyright over the novel... it's just that he's choosing to distribute it for free.

Since Joss has explicitly said he doesn't want tie-in novels for Firefly written, we're back to the legal question of whether fanfiction is (1) an unauthorized derivative work and therefore (2) uncopyrightable. (Or whether the magic powers of saying, "But I'm not making any money, well, maybe some, but not a lot, really!" suddenly turn it into fair use.)

He's publicly going against what Joss said he wanted regarding Firefly, asserting copyright over it, and potentially collecting donations. This could be a problem.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

puipui
2008-02-06 11:09 pm UTC (link)

This could be a problem.

Yeah, if this ever goes to lawyers, I think the best thing fandom can hope for is a very clearly delineation between throwing a story up onto a webpage somewhere and an actual claim of copyright via publication under a Creative Commons license. And the worst thing... well, let's just say that I'd hate to start remembering Steven Brust less for his books and more for being that fucktard who ruined fanfic for everyone. Bleh.

But, hey, if he gets that sex change, it'll be a great test case for OTW! Let's hope he's represented by Heidi, I would never stop laughing at that.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	tofuknight 2008-02-08 12:22 am UTC (link)
	Frankly, if he didn't want to prevent fic, he shouldn't have put it under the CC licence that all but says "OMG NO FANFIC U GUYZZZ!!!!" (Reply to this)(Parent)

	pfeffermuse 2008-02-07 01:19 am UTC (link)
	So how soon before LG starts ~~wanking~~ ~~wailing~~ writing on his blog about pro author now fanfic author? (Reply to this)(Thread)

	puipui 2008-02-07 02:20 am UTC (link)
	It'll be a Brust/Goldberg/Whedon three-way catfight throwdown! Awesome! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	worstangel 2008-02-07 01:46 pm UTC (link)
	steps up I'd like to put $20 on Whedon! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	m_butterfly 2008-02-08 05:26 pm UTC (link)
	I've got $20 that says Warren Ellis unexpectedly shows up and the whole thing goes completely crazy. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	tofuknight 2008-02-08 08:12 pm UTC (link)
	IT wasn't crazy before? brings popcorn (Reply to this)(Parent)

the blues
(Anonymous)
2008-02-23 07:02 am UTC (link)

You know how sometimes when you poop, it's a blue color? Well, I had one of those poops on Friday because I had been eating artificially colored animal crackers. After pinching a couple out, I thought it would be funny to trick my girlfriend. I placed them on the coffee table and told her they were novelty candies. Before I could tell her I was just joking, she took a bite! Well, after a long weekend in the hospital, my girlfriend died of spinal meningitis. God's going to punish me for this one, I just know it.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

Re: the blues
(Anonymous)
2008-02-23 07:03 am UTC (link)

you have to be on malt liquor to fully appreciate it. To the average american negro, slightly buzzed on malt liquor and dazed by the media stimulus of sports and bigscreen TV.. The phone, and the ability to communicate, even in the typical monosyllables of the subculture, is a complete novelty. Thus, the "wazzup" commercial represents the wonder and happiness that a group of young negroes finds in using the technology

(Reply to this)(Parent)