On password-protecting fic
Sep. 27th, 2004 12:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
emmagrant01This issue comes up every now and then, and I want to know if anyone can answer this question:
If I own a web page on which I post my NC-17 fan fiction, clearly labeled as adult-oriented material, am I legally obligated to actively prevent minors from accessing that material? That is, if I know someone who's 16 is reading my fic, am I legally required to do something to prevent them from having access to it?
I keep hearing that I'm not legally obligated to do such a thing, but I'd like to know for sure. Of course, I think password-protecting fic is a waste of time, for many reasons:
1) If someone really wants to read my fic, they'll get around any system I can devise.
2) The more complex my system is, the more time is required from me to maintain it, which detracts from the reason I'm here in the first place --- to read and write fic.
3) The more complex my system is, the more likely it is that adults will inadvertently be prevented from accessing my fic. Some might even decide it isn't worth the trouble, and won't bother emailing me for the password. And I'll admit I do this myself. Unless a fic comes highly recommended, I tend to pass on by if I'm required to register or request a password. Not worth the time and effort, IME. There's plenty of great fic out there.
4) It isn't my job to take care of other people's kids. If your kid has spent the last four hours reading Left My Heart, and you didn't know what they were doing until they asked you what "rimming" was, you're an irresponsible parent. Don't try to foist the blame on me.
5) As![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jedirita recently pointed out, there is no rating system for literature in the US. If a 15-year-old wants to buy Best American Erotica, they can. We put ratings on our fic as a warning/advertisement/service for our readers. We aren't required to do so, and in the old 'zine days, fics were rarely rated.
6) When I was 13, I was writing fan fiction with mild adult content. This was in the olden days, pre-internet, but I would have loved to have beeen part of an internet fan fiction community back then. I'm incredibly envious of teenagers in fandom today, and I don't want to deny the ones who are mature enough to handle it an opportunity to participate, improve their writing, and read lots of fiction. I've met some amazing writers through LJ who are 16 and 17, and who are doing great work. I'm not going to pretend they don't exist until they pass an arbitrary birthday.
Well, now that I've got that off my chest, what do you think? In particular, if anyone knows what the law is on this, could you advise me? Point me to documentation, even? Thanks in advance.
ETA:belleweather has posted an essay explaining the legal stuff I'm wondering about. Very interesting!
If I own a web page on which I post my NC-17 fan fiction, clearly labeled as adult-oriented material, am I legally obligated to actively prevent minors from accessing that material? That is, if I know someone who's 16 is reading my fic, am I legally required to do something to prevent them from having access to it?
I keep hearing that I'm not legally obligated to do such a thing, but I'd like to know for sure. Of course, I think password-protecting fic is a waste of time, for many reasons:
1) If someone really wants to read my fic, they'll get around any system I can devise.
2) The more complex my system is, the more time is required from me to maintain it, which detracts from the reason I'm here in the first place --- to read and write fic.
3) The more complex my system is, the more likely it is that adults will inadvertently be prevented from accessing my fic. Some might even decide it isn't worth the trouble, and won't bother emailing me for the password. And I'll admit I do this myself. Unless a fic comes highly recommended, I tend to pass on by if I'm required to register or request a password. Not worth the time and effort, IME. There's plenty of great fic out there.
4) It isn't my job to take care of other people's kids. If your kid has spent the last four hours reading Left My Heart, and you didn't know what they were doing until they asked you what "rimming" was, you're an irresponsible parent. Don't try to foist the blame on me.
5) As
jedirita recently pointed out, there is no rating system for literature in the US. If a 15-year-old wants to buy Best American Erotica, they can. We put ratings on our fic as a warning/advertisement/service for our readers. We aren't required to do so, and in the old 'zine days, fics were rarely rated.6) When I was 13, I was writing fan fiction with mild adult content. This was in the olden days, pre-internet, but I would have loved to have beeen part of an internet fan fiction community back then. I'm incredibly envious of teenagers in fandom today, and I don't want to deny the ones who are mature enough to handle it an opportunity to participate, improve their writing, and read lots of fiction. I've met some amazing writers through LJ who are 16 and 17, and who are doing great work. I'm not going to pretend they don't exist until they pass an arbitrary birthday.
Well, now that I've got that off my chest, what do you think? In particular, if anyone knows what the law is on this, could you advise me? Point me to documentation, even? Thanks in advance.
ETA:
belleweather has posted an essay explaining the legal stuff I'm wondering about. Very interesting!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 12:07 pm (UTC)Oh, she does sue the owners of such sites. There is a reason why there aren't any more out there...
My understanding was that this was really about putting up a warning, stating that this fic contains adult content, and you really shouldn't be here if you're not an adult.
I'm not sure about that. There have been some sites that put up protection. (Not ID checks, of course.)
I mean, there were warnings, before. On all the sites.
But like I said... It's a bit hard to tell with the internet.
Unless you hear otherwise, you won't need anything but a warning.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 04:49 pm (UTC)People closed down their sites or hid them. Messageboards went into hiding under new URLs that blocked spiders, and some became members-only boards. No one spoke of the sites or the boards to people outside of the fandom. While we were able to survive (and it had the happy effect of keeping out the annoying goth teenies who make up an unfortunately large percentage of the VC fandom), it had the unfortunate effect of completely stifling the fandom. As people got distracted by LotR and other new fandoms, there were no new authors coming in to take their place. I stayed in for a long time, but was eventually distracted by a new OTP myself. I felt hugely bad about leaving the fandom because I was one of the few remaining really active authors.
Anyway, recently there has been a move to stop hiding and take back the fandom. People are posting fics on their LJs unlocked (still usually have spiders blocked) and there's an open membership messageboard on EZBoard.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-28 02:13 am (UTC)It'll be interesting to watch the outcome of that...
Until there's a precedent we can't know what will happen. The law is severely lacking conserning internet questions. In the end it would depend on the judge, should someone actually dare to take it to court.
Yes... that will be interesting ^_~