Writing - A Perspective
If you read a work of mine and it inspired you to write something, that would make me happy.
If you write a similar work for a story based on the same idea and changed the characters and story with your own idea, I would read it.
If you take my ENTIRE story and repost it with completely the same formatting and make minor changes (a few lines of dialogue and a character description), that is stealing. Reposting content you did not create and claiming it as your own is stealing.
It does not matter that there is no monetary gain and the content is free to access. Theft is theft. Whether it be intellectual property or otherwise.
If I ask you nicely to take it down and you take the low road, all bets are off.
Writing is not just a hobby for me, it is my entire life and my profession. I am familiar with all the laws and copyrights associated with websites where I post content as well.
Contributing fanfic to a fandom is a wonderfully comforting aspect of my life, and people who take advantage of that or steal content from others ruin it.
It’s easy to sit behind a computer desk and take someone’s work and avoid consequences, but the internet is forever and things to not stay anonymous forever either. Everyone leaves a digital trail and there are ways of finding you, legally.
Writing fanfic is a road I have only recently taken and so far it’s been a great experience. I never cared about getting hits or views, I just got ideas and ran with them because they made me happy and I wanted to share them.
But having my work stolen and being unable to take it down even with evidence, is both frustrating and dangerous. I will continue to write, but I would prefer to not have to take steps to make my work less accessible for the sake of keeping it secure.
If you are unsure if what you are posting it stealing, then don’t post it. Be sure what you post is your own content and only your content. You should want your original content out there anyway. Lies always come to the surface.
Don’t steal.
Do your research.
Do better.
Write better.
