The internet has opened the doors to many new economic models the would never have been possible without the collaborative powers of millions of people working separately in the fields they are passionate about. Fan Culture has disproportionately benefited from this. It is easier to create and distribute fanworks than it has ever been, but the monetization of these works is still taboo, and I am forced to ask myself, Why?

The internet has allowed people to create and share brilliant fan fiction and films with the community, and yet these creators reap little more than promotional benefit from their work. Something is wrong with the system, and more than anything else, it is the antiquated attitudes of the copyright holders that prevents them from harnessing their legions of fans for mutual benefit.

Star Wars Revelations Official Poster

If I worked for DC Comics, I would snatch up Elseworlds and release it in a way that we could both profit from, or if I worked for Lucas Films I would pick up Star Wars: Revelations, Dark Redemption, and Reign of the Fallen.

It boggles my mind how many companies want to hold to their existing business models rather than reaching out to find new ways to make money.

Many of the fan trailers and music videos are far better than the official ones. So what does the company do? They send a DMC take down instead of licensing the fan content and using it instead.

"Pride goes before a fall," and these people are have more pride in crap than they do desire to produce content.

Creative Commons

This seems to me to be the best use of the creative commons license. Allow fans to do anything they want with a work except make money and pick up the best content to be released for profit.

I know that is a radical departure from the way the industry likes to work. They would prefer to sue their fans instead of earning money from them. What a wacky world we live in. Maybe someone will wake up, and the necessary revival of Speculative Fiction will come.