Mirabile Dictu

Look. I’m going to explain this in words of one syllable, so it can be right here where all, like, six of you who read this blog can see it in writing.

It is really, really not okay to take my fic and repost it wherever you damn please. No, honestly. It’s not. I would not lie to you. No, I don’t care if you want to translate it for all your friends. There is not a doubt in my mind that Harry Potter fanfiction exists in your language. You can find it, share it with your friends, and even make rec lists. You don’t need to repost mine.

In the last week I’ve found two different people, in two different countries, translating and reposting my fic without permission. Stuff like this pretty invariably makes me think that posting my fic online is a bad idea after all. So, you know, I’m glad you like my fic, but reposting it somewhere else without my permission is a pretty goddamned good way to dry up your dealer, because if I keep having to deal with this shit, eventually I’m going to decide - as pretty much any sensible person would - that the way to avoid having stuff spread all over the internet is not to post it to begin with.

There’s a reason my fic is mostly only posted here. If I wanted it strewn from hell to breakfast, I’d post it on archives. I don’t do that, as a general rule. Please don’t decide by fiat that you’re allowed to second-guess my decision and do it for me.

Edit: One of them says she had permission, so let me make another request. Fanfic writers get a lot of email. If a year passes between your email and your translation, the probability that the writer will remember that she gave you permission is pretty close to zero. At least forward the email back to her and give her a heads-up before you start posting.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 10th, 2007 at 9:49 pm and is filed under Harry Potter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.