InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "GROUP HUG!"

tamashitoshiro (tamashitoshiro) wrote,
@ 2009-02-01 09:42:00

Current mood:	infuriated
Entry tags:	bullshi, fairy tale, nifty

This is the final straw in my shitty year
I have bad news and if you know anyone who has read my stuff on Nifty, please spread the world to them. I will no longer be posting any of my writings there. The rest of A Fairy Tale in Flight will be found ONLY on my Insanejournal. I have requested the Nifty Archivist to remove AFTS but he refuses saying I am not allowed to take it down without replacing it or paying him money. I will consult a lawyer to see if this is legal and if it I will pay him and have it removed. From this point onward, I will have no further dealings with Nifty, as this kinda shit cans any plans to get it published if he refuses to remove it.

His letter:

"I am sorry, but Nifty does not do that. Nifty is not a temporary exhibition space. We cannot allow publishers to cherry-pick the best stories from Nifty.

If you want the story to be removed from display, you need to replace it with a similar story of equal quality or make a monetary donation to Nifty to allow Nifty to encourage and help other authors.

Thanks, Nifty"

Personally I think this blows and is way beyond the pale. How can you encourage other authors when you are holding their stuff for ransom? I feel like I've been kicked in the stomach here. I will have NO further dealings with Nifty EVER again!

Worse case scenario, I'll have to rewrite the first two books and that will take up a LOT of time and delay any further updates by quite a bit. I apologize in advance.

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(Post a new comment)

	ransom they say! (Anonymous) 2009-02-01 04:15 pm UTC (link)
	What? thats outrageous... I hope you dont have to rewrite everything - that would really suck. I hope that things get sorted with Nifty - I absolutely dont agree with them, it is still your intellectual property. Anne (Reply to this)

(Anonymous)
2009-02-02 08:23 pm UTC (link)

Unfortunately I'd have to agree with Nifty here. The terms of service on the site are pretty clear. From their submission page:

Legal stuff: Authors retain rights to and title to their submitted works. By submitting a work, the author grants the Nifty Archive a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, and non-cancellable license to display the work. (If this is unacceptable, please contact us to discuss your concern.)

Authors may license their stories to other publishers, but that does not revoke the license granted to the Nifty Archive. Authors may reclaim the license granted to Nifty by replacing a story with an equivalent story appropriate for display in the Nifty Archive, or by making a contribution to the Nifty Archive of equal value in another form.

So... when you pitched your stuff at Nifty to put up, you granted them the right to keep it up. I can sympathize with your unhappiness as an author -- I've a YA novel up there that I've considered patching up for real submission, but decided against because of the TOS. As a reader, though it means that the (depressingly rare) stuff on the site that isn't crap will always be there if I want to go back to find it later. That's something that is very much not true of most author websites.

It's a tradeoff. You get visibility as an author, but you can't easily give that visibility back.

Chalk it up as a learning experience and perhaps PR. If you want to publish then give the story a good working-over so it's fresh, or use Fairy Tale In Flight as a draw for something else you write. There are worse things, and a number of nifty authors have gone on to have their stuff published professionally. (Including at least one guy who you're much, much better than, so you've certainly got a good chance)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	tamashitoshiro 2009-02-02 08:29 pm UTC (link)
	Whatever... especially as you are too chickenshit to sign your name. Nifty can kiss my ass, I will publish this book if I have to self publish it on my computer. AND he will never get another word from me. (Reply to this) (Parent)

Terms of Service
(Anonymous)
2009-02-03 07:42 am UTC (link)

I get why Nifty does it, but you should know that just cause they have a term of service like that, it doesn't mean a whole lot. Once something is copyrighted you can go back and sue them for infringement of that copyright and get them to remove it.
Terms of Service are in no way ironclad, since you didn't sign anything agreeing to them. Be careful with lawyers, just getting a consultation can be expensive and lawyers aren't always correct either.

As a reader I'd hate for your story to leave nifty, but it is your work and you should be the one to decide what happens to it.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	At a loss (Anonymous) 2009-02-03 03:36 pm UTC (link)
	I, honestly, don't know what to say...and that's a rarity in and of itself. I'm pissed (and it's not even my work). I would definitely consult an attorney. I do believe that there are ways to get around Nifty's ToS. I do have a suggestion about what to do in the meantime, but I'm not going to overstep my boundaries. Flames01 (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: At a loss tamashitoshiro 2009-02-03 04:54 pm UTC (link)
	Go ahead and suggest to your hearts content! hahahaha (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: At a loss
(Anonymous)
2009-02-03 09:23 pm UTC (link)

What I would suggest is to submit an "update" to Nifty which would just happen to explain the entire situation to Nifty readers. It would also state the fact that you'll never make another submission there and that readers should come here. It would also just happen to have the letter from the Nifty Archivist where you were told to make a bribe in order to have your work removed. What I believe this will do is to pull your Nifty readers here. This will work for your present as well as your future fan base, which I think is important to keep intact as you want to publish your work. It will also serve as a warning to other authors about the practices of Nifty Archives/Archivists.

Again, I'd do this as well as consult a lawyer. I would think that getting a copyright would be an effective way to force Nifty to remove your work, but I'm not an attorney.

Flames01

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: At a loss tamashitoshiro 2009-02-03 09:26 pm UTC (link)
	I thought about that, but I rather doubt that the Archivist would actually post that part. And I'd really rather NOT have him come here and see my plans, I'm feeling rather paranoid right now. (Reply to this) (Parent)