This Ain't BC

I heard about this on tumblr, and went digging a little to see what I could verify. Here's what I've got.

Earlier this year, someone scraped AO3 for a dataset, seemingly intended for AI training. Data scrapes aren't new, but this one was large and the person who did it has been sort of flippant about takedown requests. AO3 wasn't alone; several other sites were also scraped.

This lays out the progression of events pretty comprehensively, but the tl;dr version is that the dataset was uploaded to HuggingFace, then a few other websites. At some point, the scraper created their own website to host as well. After receiving DMCAs, most sites have taken down or deleted the data. However, the scraper filed a counter-notice.

I reached out to the OTW (my full message is below the cut at the end of the post) asking if they can let me know if they've pursued legal action against data scraping before & whether they intend to this time. I'll post an update when I get a response.

The takeaways: 

• The dataset is currently down in most locations where we can realistically expect it to be taken down. PaperDemon advises against visiting the scraper's personal website and I'm inclined to agree; this person has already proven themselves to not adhere to the same ethical values we hold. It also was apparently still up on a site called datafish as of 6-7 hours ago; I'm not sure if that's the personal website in question or something else, although frankly I haven't spent much time trying to look into that piece. You probably don't need to worry about filing DMCAs at this point.
• That said, the dataset might go back up. At 10:29 GMT on April 11, the scraper commented that they had filed a counter-notice. From the date of receipt of the counter-notice, the copyright holder usually has 10-14 business days to file a lawsuit. If no legal action is taken, the data can go back up. Today is the 11th business day since the counter-notice.
• HuggingFace's post says the DMCA was from AO3 (actually, "from the representatives of Transformative Works"), so presumably the counter-notice was also sent to AO3. It's possible that they're referring to AO3 when they actually mean an individual, but if we take their statements at face value that means the ball's in the OTW's court.
• Things are a little heated on HuggingFace. AO3 users are using strong language, and in response some of the people on HuggingFace have started talking about things like torrents, private websites, etc. 
• So far, the OTW has been silent. That isn't hugely unusual; this is far from the first data-scraping incident, and a lot of this stuff gets handled behind the scenes. But this incident has attracted significant attention on at least tumblr, so I was hoping they would have some kind of statement.
• Not all AO3 data scraping is unethical. There are plenty of people who scrape AO3 for legitimate fannish purposes, from gathering fandom stats to Auto AO3 (that website people use to look up gift exchange requests). If in some future world we decide to Do Something about data scraping, I think it's important to bear in mind the distinction between ethical vs unethical data scraping. The scraper in this incident has said that they aren't doing this for profit, but to me this absolutely feels like the same thing as a web novel website copying things from AO3 to try to sell.

This incident also highlights for me something I've been saying in private for a while: We need someone doing some kind of AO3 news reporting. The Daily Dot was sort of doing this for a while, but their fandom reporting seems to have fallen off - and they really only focused on major issues and interesting features. What we need is something more comparable to local journalism, that helps us understand the AO3 equivalents of water rates and pot hole repairs.

Right now, it feels like many of us rely on word of mouth and the occasional OTW press release for information. I'm not criticizing OTW's press releases, but like any organization they tend to be slow and careful in putting things out, only wanting to write after things are resolved and they can provide solid answers. But sometimes we need to know there are questions to be asked.

Maybe somebody's already doing this and I'm just unaware of it (lbr, if it exists it's probably here on dreamwidth), so if you know of something like this please drop it in the comments.

Here's what I sent OTW:



I'll let you know what kind of response I get.

I'm by no means an expert - some of my exchange letters get a little too long, and I don't actually reliably participate in that many exchanges  - but here are some of the things I've found help make for a good exchange letter and set of requests.

Requests: 

• Provide 1-3 more specific requests, to help inspire your gifter and give them a sense of direction. Even if they don't end up using these, they can be helpful.
  
  • I've found it seems to work well to come up with a sort of sliding scale of requests, ranging from a more specific prompt all the way down to something pretty generic.
• At least one request that is as general as you can bear. It is absolutely vital for this that you're clear about what your hard lines are. Make sure you have a specific DNW list and address the question of how far you're okay with them straying from the characters/pairings listed in the request.
  
  • Suggested wording is something along the lines of "Please use at least one of the requested characters or pairings and still respect my DNWs, but aside from that, anything goes!"
• There's definitely a balancing act between trying to offer up lots of possibilities but not overwhelming your gifter with requests. More requests, especially if they're for different characters/pairings/fandoms, means your chances of matching go up; on the other hand, staring down a wall of requests can be tough. I often aim for 3-4 requests - unless it's an exchange with TONS of possible fandoms, in which case I abandon all caution and just try to maximize matching potential.

Letter:

The purpose of a good exchange letter is to help your gifter understand what you'd like, what you definitely wouldn't like, and what you want out of the exchange. That can be translated into a few elements: a list of things you enjoy, a more expanded version of your DNW list (this is a great chance to clarify where there might be potential exceptions or edge cases), some further info on your ship preferences if you've requested any rarepairs or "Character/Other" type pairings, a section expanding on your requests a little, and a link to your bookmarks and/or fic recs tag. I also find it useful to emphasize the things I'm okay with that can be fandom no-gos; I don't mind major character death and love a good tragedy, and that isn't something people are likely to assume I'd enjoy if I don't explicitly say so.

Your exchange letter should be clearly organized, but it doesn't have to be an award-winning piece of writing or anything. I usually start with a thank you, move into what I like, then a paragraph or bulleted list of what I don't want, then expand on relationships if I'm doing so, then a bulleted list with each item starting with "Request #X". The conclusion, such that it is, is a reassurance that I'm open to them interpreting my requests broadly and a link to my bookmarks.

Often in exchanges, we focus on what we don't want - we require people to respect DNW lists, but don't talk much about how to communicate what would be exciting for us to receive. To me, that's the fundamental purpose of an exchange letter. It gives you a chance to elaborate on what you like, what you're asking for and why, and how broad or narrow each request is. As a general rule of thumb, specificity helps inspire (or provide hard guard rails) while generality frees your gifter to take that inspiration and run with it. A list of possible directions to take a concept in can be useful, because it balances these two elements; you're offering specific examples of things you'd like, but as a buffet, not a directive. And making sure you have one very broad, open request means that people who prefer playing in metaphorical sandboxes can still find a request of yours that works for them.

The exchange letter also gives you a chance to delve into DNWs a little more, but even that I think of more positively than anything; you're outlining where there are exceptions or why you don't like things, so your gifter is better able to navigate how to make sure they toe the right side of any potential lines. For example, I almost universally list infidelity as a hard DNW - but in my exchange letter DNW list, clarify that I'm fine with portraying characters in open relationships as long as everyone's onboard.

What about you all? Any tips or tricks for writing good exchange letters and requests?

 Happy Rarepair Hell Weekend!! Please comment below with all of your lovely rarepair things - sorry for getting it up a day late, I've been feeling a bit under the weather. 

I’m thinking of doing a rarepair hell event again! (If you didn’t remember or missed it last time, Rarepair Hell is a More Joy Day inspired event celebrating rare ships, characters, and/or fandoms. You can do anything you like to celebrate, from creating fanworks to making rec lists to leaving comments to reading/viewing/etc other people’s works.)

The details are all still a bit up in the air, but I’m thinking sometime soon-ish before we swing into spring/summer exchanges and events. Let me know if you have thoughts! 

 I made some A Court of Fey & Flowers art! You can see it here on twitter or here on tumblr, or I've used it as the icon for this post!

Hi! Thank you for making me something for the exchange! 

• I'm a huge fan of both fluff and angst; things that are really soft or really funny or really sad all tend to work well for me!
• I love family/found family dynamics (which can include kid!fic), baking/cooking, domesticity, outsider POV, secret reveals (it can be any kind of secret! including relationship reveal!), mysteries, historical AUs, magical realism, fairytales and folklore, and crossovers. Road trips can be super fun, and I’m also fond of character studies.
• I like happy endings but I also can enjoy sad endings! Feel free to delve into the delicious angsty possibilities of canonical deaths or killing characters off if you want to and it makes sense for the circumstances.
• I also love curtain!fic/art/vids/etc, so if you just want to keep things sweet and simple that would also be awesome!
• Last but absolutely not least, I am an absolute sucker for courtly romance, chivalry, the whole nine yards, whether or not that's actually dressed up in pennants and shining armor or is just people in jeans and t shirts behaving in those ways.

• As a general rule of thumb, I don't tend to love celebrity AUs, sex worker AUs (in particular, I dislike stories about a romantic relationship developing between a sex worker and their client; no Pretty Woman AUs here please!), or reincarnation stories.
• I don't like things like soulmate AUs or Hanahaki disease very much in concept, but I do like the way they lend themselves to tropes like mutual pining (and for Hanahaki in particular, I really like plants and flowers cropping up in fic or fanart, so that can go a long ways toward making me more open to that trope).
• I'm not a huge fan of break ups--and I especially don't like breaking up and making up. (An exception to this would be something along the lines of something like a Persuasion AU, where the break up happened offscreen long before the action of the story starts.)
• Sometimes I like threesomes/moresomes, but I can be a bit picky about them.  

• non-con
• incest
• infidelity (things like open relationships or a couple who are separated but still legally married seeing other people are fine, just please no cheating-and-lying-about-it)
• detailed or lengthy medical horror/gore scenes (specifically medical; other kinds of horror are fine)
• cis-to-cis genderbending (exploring the possibilities of someone being trans or nonbinary is fine, please just no rewriting a cis man as a cis woman or vice versa)
• RPS
• robots (unless it's something that already exists in real life, such as Siri or a roomba, or if you're writing a crossover with something that has canonical robots, like Doctor Who) or robot sex

1. Pae and Thurs! I love these two - I love Thurs as a character, the way he's such a devoted friend and such a con artist and such an interesting blend of genuine and crafty, and I love the energy he has with Actual Golden Retriever Pae/Pao. I don't really have a specific prompt in mind, here, I'd just like to see more of their relationship! 
2. Nuan is my absolute favorite character from Something In My Room, and she is, in my opinion, very clearly flirting with Chris at points. I'd love to see that blossom into a real relationship, whether it's happening offscreen during the course of the show or in an AU. 
3. I've given you lots of options here for characters/ships! For the three tropes I mentioned in my request - case!fic, fairytale or magical realism AU, and historical AU - I can see lots of different directions you could potentially take them in. Case!fic could be anything from a Leverage AU to the mystery of the missing candy bar to a full hardboiled noir AU. Fairytale/magical realism could be a Ladyhawke AU, a merfolk AU, a canon-compliant fic that plays with supernatural elements like ghosts or luck, etc. Historical AU could be at any point in history (although I'd prefer something set before ~1995), and really you can pair it with any other tropes you like: is a case!fic? Is it an Austen AU? Is it epistolary fic centered around the Titanic or a world war or something out of a Jules Verne novel? Up to you! For all of these, feel free to take them in any direction you like; and, if none of them really inspire you, feel free to go with one of the other things I've mentioned in this letter! I would also be delighted to receive podfic if that's what you're interested in making! Obviously I can't give you permission to podfic anyone else's work, but if there's a fic of mine that you'd be interested in podficcing, I would be very excited about that as well.

Rarepair Hell Weekend is here! (Well, not quite in my time zone, but I'm going to bed so I'm posting about it now!)

Just as a quick reminder of how this works: you can do anything you want to participate - create something, leave a comment on something, etc - in any space you like, & then you come comment on the announcement post about what you did! 

Announcing a new event! \o/ June 25 and 26 will be Rarepair Hell Weekend! 

Got a rarepair or a small fandom you love? This is the event for you! This is a celebration of rarepairs (which in this case is being stretched to the limits of its definition to include uncommonly explored gen relationships, characters who don't get many works, and small fandoms) and their fanworks! 

This event is loosely modeled off of sdwolfpup's More Joy Day—which means that instead of contributing to an AO3 collection or using a certain tag on social media, you do what you like in a space of your choosing, and then come and comment on this post and tell us about what you did! (Dreamwidth allows people who don't have accounts to leave anonymous comments, so you do not need to have a DW account to participate.) For this event, you can do anything you want in celebration of your rarepair(s) of choice, including but not limited to:

• leaving a comment on an existing work
• compiling a rec list
• creating a new fanwork (fic, art, vid, filk, etc) of your own
• writing a ship manifesto
• etc

Do whatever you like to drag us down into rarepair hell with you, and then come back and comment with what you did! 

Not sure if what you're thinking of counts as a rarepair? You can find some more info on that below the cut! 

( Read more... )

A friend on twitter asked me if they could buy this image I made for Flower Crown Weekend as a sticker, so, uh, I guess I'm on redbubble now? If there's anything I've made that you'd like to have available to purchase in sticker (or t shirt, tote bag, etc) form, I guess just ask? 

I realize this sounds really blasé and advertise-y, but I'm honestly just kind of overwhelmed that someone was excited enough about this to want to buy it? GOOD overwhelmed, I'm absolutely over the moon excited, but I just. Don't have the words right now!