For a very long time I have been making fan edits. How long? Well... Let's just say when I first started, the internet was still mostly dial up connections for home users. That's right, long before Google or Youtube existed, I was making fan edits on VHS tapes. ( you can check out some of my fan edits on my website http://kenpoirier.com/art/film.html )
Now, I'm sure more than one of you are asking, what the heck is a fan edit? Well, a fan edit is a re-edited version of a film that the editor for one reason or another has made to prove a point of some kind.
The best way to learn about fan editing is to visit fanedit.org which is perhaps the ultimate authority of fan edits at this point. They mainly break fan edits down into two categories: Fan fixes and Fan Mixes.
A Fan Fix is where the editor thinks that the original film somehow erred in the original compilation of shots and audio and then attempts to recut them to better reflect the original intent of the film. A great example of this is The Phantom Edit, which is a re-editing of Star Wars - The Phantom Menace, with the intent of making it less goofy and having a more coherent story.
The more popular Fan Mix is when the original piece is remixed with other media in order to create a new tone or intent for the film. A good example of this Auralnauts Star Wars - Jedi Party, in which the voices of the characters are replaced to make the Jedi seem like drunken frat bros.
This is not to be confused with Fan Films, in which people shoot new footage setting themselves in their favorite fictional universe such as Star Wars Uncut...
Now... You might have noticed a common theme here... If you are guessing that theme is Star Wars, you are correct. While yes, comparing three different versions of the same material makes for an easy compassion, that's not why I choose these. I could have just as easily used Batman, Superman, Harry Potter or a dozen other franchises to make the same point.
I chose Star Wars because SW has a very legal position and that's what I'm here to talk about.
The reason SW has so many fan-adaptions is because of two events. This first being the film The People vs George Lucas, which debated who really owned Star Wars. Is it really a corporate property or due to its cultural impact on America, has it gone on to become something more? The second event was a verdict on this question by the most unlikely of sources, Disney.
Now, if you asked me who was the most egregious of all copyright trolls in the world, I would probably say Disney. Disney has pretty much hand written every copyright law in the whiter parts of the world for the last 50 years, pretty much making copyrights last indefinitely. Worse than that, they manage to sink their meat hooks into every piece of classic literature that should of be Public Domain long ago.
But when it came to Star Wars, seeing how people reacted to the prequel trilogy, they took a step back. Don't get me wrong, they still own the copyright and will enforce it when push comes to to shove. But they realize that betraying the fans and trying to take away their homemade toys would be devastating to their public image. The last thing they need is a massive boycott when they're trying to push 50 million stuffed penguins into Xmas stockings. So Disney took an important stand, that is fans first.
That's why we get to see all this great SW content on channels like youtube. Seriously, youtube is like 50% Star Wars at this point. There are others too, The WB does let quite a bit of stuff slide when it comes to fan stuff on youtube as well, but I'm not here to list every instance. I'm here to talk about models.
The youtube model is simply this: You post to youtube, if the content matches a copyrighted work, it gets flagged. What kind of flag is up to the original content provider. It could be a "banned" flag, in which the content will be regionally blocked, or it could be "demonetized", which is in accurate, since it is still monetized, just the ad money goes to the original content creator instead of you. Or it doesn't get flagged because no one cares.
Once flagged on youtube, there is an appeal process in which you can make the argument for fair use or show proof of permission. Because youtube flags content automatically, you can have your content flagged even if you have permission, which is a big pain. I've even had my own original content flagged because someone else I granted use uploaded it before I did. The review process on youtube is lacking a human element and you can find plenty of videos on youtube of people explaining their grievances on that issue.
Alternatively, sites like Vimeo (which are not monetized) don't use a algorithm matching, instead don't do any checking at all unless they get issued a take-down notice from from the original content provided, in which case the content is immediately removed and there is very little in the way of an appeals process. None the less, this doesn't happen often, making it the current preferred site for fan editors.
So that leaves Dtube...
Soon after signing up for steemit, the next thing I checked out was Dtube and I instantly started looking at it as a possible outlet for fanedits. Quite frankly, there is a severe lack of entertaining content on Dtube at the moment and fanedits could give a unique draw to the site.
Dtube, if I understand it correctly, seems to be decentralized, and while "monetized", it not monetized with real money. The case for fair use is so clear to the point no court case has ever been brought up on the matter and any restrictions have been done internally through the media outlet.
That's my thoughts... but it's not up to me... It's up to you, the community. So I want to hear your thoughts, if you have any, please mention them in the comments bellow, if not, well... I guess I'll just have to upload a few and see how it pans out.
@originalworks Check this out!