Fanfics(and a bit of AI). The end of the morally bankrupt trilogy.

[RepresentingWrath]

Some of you have probably seen my previous threads, some probably haven't. While previous threads were more of a joke, this time I wanted to talk about it more seriously. The past two weeks I've been looking through SH trending, reporting translations. As the amount of translation dwindled due to me reporting them, my attention moved to something way more disturbing.

I don't like AI as much as the next guy. I really don't. After all, unlike lot of you, I'm open about wanting to write for life. I want moneh for my writing, it's not just a hobby to me. And AI obviously makes it more hard for me. HOWEVER, one of the things I heard people use in critisizing AI is that it steals from people.

Cue the drumroll.

Here are some stats I gathered. Now, those stats aren't perfect by all means, and I did it manually. I am no fancy techlord, so the best I can do is look at it with my own eyes and take notes. Also, the first datapoint is slightly different.

05.02.2025 I looked at the trending. It had around 290 works. 95 works were fanfiction. And I tried taking notes by authors. In other words, if the same author had two fanfictions I only counted one. Out of 95 fanfictions, 26 were not monetized. NOT monetized. 69 works on trending are MONETIZED fanfictions.

Since this day was special, I have a breakdown by pages.
7 -24 First page. 7 Non monetized.
6 -22 Second page. 6 Non monetized.
4 -22 Thirsd page. 4 Non monetized.
9 -27 Fourth and fifth page combined. 9 non monetized.
Usually a full page has 25 novels, but I tried to do one work per author, so this is why second number, total works on a page, is so weird.

06.02.2025 This is where I changed methodology, because I will make mistakes anyway, and counting one work per author is confusing, and I didn't account how there can be multiple non-fanfic works from the same author. I simply looked at how many novels are on trending, how many are fanfics, how many are NOT monetized.

307 works on trending. 124 fanfiction. 32 NOT monetized.

07.02.2025 304 works on trending. 133 fanfiction. 35 NOT monetized.

08.02.2025 298 works on trending. 113 fanfiction. 36 NOT monetized.

09.02.2025 292 works on trending. 125 fanfiction. 27 NOT monetized.

And I forgot to do 10.022025, but I did 11.02.2025 You can look at it yourself(don't forget to unblock genres if you want to get same numbers). 326 total works on trending. 141 fanfiction. 38 fanfictions are NOT monetized.

Why did I do it? Because I hate hypocrisy, because I don't like fanfiction yet I always gave FF a benefit of the doubt. I always thought, "It can't be that bad, right? RIGHT?"

As you can see from stats gathered, it is horrific how nonchalant people are about breaking the law. Not breaking rules, no-no, they actually break the law, they steal from other people, and everyone are okay with it. 09.02 had ONE THIRD of the whole trending consist of MONETIZED fanfictions. ONE THIRD!!!

I admit my stat gathering wasn't great, and I don't account for a lot of things. There are some writers who write both FF and original, with patreon reserved for their originals. There are translators who are hiding and claim to write those fanfics, same author can have multiple works on those trending lists.. There are multiple other things I didn't take into account. To this I can say two things. First, you can gather data yourself, and be more accurate. I will be very thankful if you do. Second, I don't really care about the ratio of monetized to non-monetized fanfics. I don't care about ratio of monetized fanfics to the whole trending list either. I care about the fact they exist at all.

They are stealing not unlike AI steals art as artists claim. However all FF writers get is pat on the back. Everyone close their eyes to this. It is, frankly, infuriating. Am I going to do anything about it? No. There isn't any rule on SH that states you can't monetize fanfiction, and I can't force law upon people. Most importantly, I do not own those works, so I am not sure I have the right to file a DMCA. Do I ask you to do anything? No.

I'm not even angry about it anymore. The main reason behind writing this is because I wanted some kind of keepsake of my hate towards fanfiction.

Have a good day.

 

[Corty]

 

[Deleted member 192215]

Looked like a big serious issue. We don't want to get sued by Japanese copyright lawyers do we?

I'm being honest. They should've use AO3, that is where most FF should be.

 

[SRB]

It's an issue not only on SH. It's almost everywhere, sadly.

 

[RedMuffin]

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Looked like a big serious issue. We don't want to get sued by Japanese copyright lawyers do we?

I'm being honest. They should've use AO3, that is where most FF should be.

They can simply not monetize their fanfics. ?‍ Writing a fanfic, as long as it's not monetized, falls under fair use.

 

[Golden_Hyde]

as someone who once dwell with fanfiction since 2014 until 2020, I must say monetizing fanfictions are as bad as plagiarizing other people's works. I don't care if you made it thoroughly using 'your' idea, you're still using someone else's intellectual property.

Thank God I no longer do fanfictions anymore (no one cares though lmao).

But yeah, if you want to make money through writing stories, you can use fanfictions as your stepping stone—but don't monetize it. Hone your creative skill, and then make a compelling original story, and always learn from your mistakes and bad grammars ?

It's an issue not only on SH. It's almost everywhere, sadly.

if it's somewhere like in Royal Road, WebNovel and Wattpad, I can concur. But archaic sites like AO3 and FF.net? Dare I hope they can survive from the flames

 

[Rezcore]

Ok... when it comes to monetizing fanfiction there is a very slippery line. One could declare the monetization is for another project, and as long as they are actively working on that project, they're good. However one doesn't need to go that far, simply put, they're protected by the same laws that Let's plays and YouTube get. Unless it Nintendo, most ip holders aren't anal about people earning off their ip, if the way of earning is from truly transformative content. That said, if someone is doing a fan fiction, they should write it for free, recognize they don't own the ip, and then start an original project which they do own and them earn mulah

 

[Viator]

I agree with the general dislike of Fan Fiction. I've always seen it as sort of a nessisary evil. On the one hand, it's completely natural for a fan to get excited over their favorite works, and is a wonderful tool to get people to start practicing the act of writing. On the other, I would not consider it a legitimate full form of creation; as no matter how much original material you create, the core of it isn't yours. I basically view them as training wheels to help some writers walk before they run, to truly create things of their own. Although I still think it's always better to start with your own creations and exercise those braincells early, I have always viewed fan fiction as slightly positive overall.

The fact that so people monetize them actually surprised me here; it really shouldn't have, but it did. I don't usually pay too much attention to them, so it's a blind spot. That drops my opinion of many of them considerably. If you're not using them to merely practice your own craft, but seeking profit, that's simply wrong. There is no justification for it.

Thanks for bringing it to my attention nonetheless.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

I agree with the general dislike of Fan Fiction. I've always seen it as sort of a nessisary evil. On the one hand, it's completely natural for a fan to get excited over their favorite works, and is a wonderful tool to get people to start practicing the act of writing. On the other, I would not consider it a legitimate full form of creation; as no matter how much original material you create, the core of it isn't yours. I basically view them as training wheels to help some writers walk before they run, to truly create things of their own. Although I still think it's always better to start with your own creations and exercise those braincells early, I have always viewed fan fiction as slightly positive overall.

The point about getting excited isn't valid at all. I saw this take multiple times. "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." The problem here is, they don't imitate. They do not imitate and create something new. They barge in, move and swap everything according to their taste, and call it love for original source. It is not. It is childish behavior.

In that sense, I agree with you. It can be a good starting ground, if only they actually used it as training wheels. Unfortunately, my trust in fanfics writers is at all times low, and I don't believe they use fanfics to train. They use fanfics as a cheap way to get a headstart. And I know of at least one person who actually did it. I won't namedrop here, but I have that name. Obviously I dislike that person for doing it.

The fact that so people monetize them actually surprised me here; it really shouldn't have, but it did. I don't usually pay too much attention to them, so it's a blind spot. That drops my opinion of many of them considerably. If you're not using them to merely practice your own craft, but seeking profit, that's simply wrong. There is no justification for it.

Thanks for bringing it to my attention nonetheless.

As I mentioned it in my post, I gave fanfics the benefit of the doubt all the time. I absolutely made jokes about fanfictions and disliked fanfictions. Nevertheless, personally, I thought it wasn't as bad. I thought the people who monetize their fanfics are a minority disliked by 'true' fanfic authors and readers. Turns out I was wrong. When the ratio of monetized to non-monetized is at least two to one you can infer they are not a minority. And it was eye-opening to me.

 

[Tyranomaster]

This is probably one of the main reasons why I don't take any 'creators/artists' seriously who complain about AI stealing intellectual property seriously. Intellectual property theft has been happening in broad daylight for like 10 years in writing, and those same creators encouraged it. They aren't angry with AI on principle, they're angry with it on a tribal level, because they've mostly shown an indifference to original works being stolen prior to it. They're upset that it's stealing their stolen works.

So, while I approve of disclaimers for AI art/AI written stories from a consumer standpoint (just as I'm fine with companies being forced to disclose the ingredients in food), I have no qualms with it from a 'they're taking muh jobs' standpoint. I've already had to compete with intellectual thieves for attention for my original work, so it doesn't change the playing field much.

 

[Corty]

People will always want to get money with the least effort.

As someone who wrote a fanfic because I thought I had a good idea, I never thought about monetizing it. Because it simply is wrong. But of course, people try to get money via AI translations sold as original stories.

My honest conclusion: It is not those fault who monetize it. It is those fault who keep paying for it.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

People will always want to get money with the least effort.

As someone who wrote a fanfic because I thought I had a good idea, I never thought about monetizing it. Because it simply is wrong. But of course, people try to get money via AI translations sold as original stories.

My honest conclusion: It is not those fault who monetize it. It is those fault who keep paying for it.

I think both are at fault.

Also, if you(generic you) want to earn money with fanfics, at the very least you can set up a thing, patreon, ko-fi, whatever, and not give anything in return. I understand no one will donate to you(generic you) if you do it, but at least that way you aren't really getting money for content. You are getting donations out of goodwill, not for content. Is it still fair use? I am not sure, but I think it's closer to being fair use than paywalling a shit ton of chapters, setting up high tiers that will allow your donator to change the story, and so on.

 

[Tyranomaster]

As a side note for anyone with a bunch of free time on their hands and a vendetta against fanfics, most companies have forward facing emails for legal claims. If someone is monetizing a fanfiction, simply link the monetization in an email to them and they can file a DMCA. Rather than flood certain popular emails, be sure to compile a long list.

 

[Corty]

By the way, I would support a rule change. Because SH should be a supposed home of original English novels (I read it somewhere, if my memory is correct), all fanfics are excluded from appearing on trending.

Not hidden like translations, but excluded from snagging a spot on trending from originals.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

(I read it somewhere, if my memory is correct), all fanfics are excluded from appearing on trending.

I think it is Mandela effect.

 

[Erysion]

I'm not even angry about it anymore.

Who are you and what have you done to SilusGimbel?

 

[AnonUnlimited]

Who are you and what have you done to SilusGimbel?

Why are you stalking him?

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Who are you and what have you done to SilusGimbel?

Why are you stalking him?

 

[OokamiOkuri]

Who are you and what have you done to SilusGimbel?

Why are you stalking him?

I have to stop talking to myself.