Me: “Good news!”
My OCs: (gasp of disbelief)
Me: “I’ve figured out how to make your lives exponentially worse!”
My OCs: >:(
Me: >:)
Idk how to write psa but there's an 'unofficial' AO3 app that steal a lot of fanfics. I saw mine and @synchronmurmurs fics in it too.
And it kinda monetize our work since they have subscription fee in it. (Refer third pic)
Okay so I'm kinda still just waking up rn, but I had a peek at this app and there is a TON of fics on this thing. Like around 7.5k works? I only checked the DMC category, but I saw a ton of familiar names and fics listed.
Is anybody around who would know more about this sort of thing? Is reporting the app enough to give it a good old double barrel fuck off? Would this be counted as going against AO3's ToS? I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to even MENTION money on that site, so how would that go for an unaffiliated app?
So, I kinda looked into. At unfortunately it has @synchronmurmurs, @harlot-of-oblivion, @kyarymell, @silversapphyre, @keeroo92, @thedyingmoon, @tehrevving and my own works on this app. Tagging the others I saw, at least in the Nero and Vergil categories, in case y'all wanted to know or try and do something about it. I also went into the reviews for the app on the store
Here's a couple of the 1 star reviews.
I hit up ao3 support team. And unfortunately, this is the response I got.
There isn't much that Ao3 can do. All we can do is make a request to the creator of the app to take put shit down or hope Apple and Android will take it down.
ALL of my (shalashaskalot) works are on here, and idk how I feel about it. It just feels kind of rude for someone to be making money off works that I’ve literally bought food and glasses and SURVIVED on thanks to people tipping me via Ko-Fi and elsewhere. On one hand, I kind of don’t mind bc this person did put time and effort into making the “reader” or viewer or whatever you wanna call it. I used to build websites and had my hands in a fair share of coding and I know it’s intensive and time consuming. But on the other hand, that’s my stuff and you’re using it without my permission to make money. And I put a lot of time and effort into my writing. I didn’t write it for someone else to make money off of. I wrote it because I enjoy it and because others enjoy it.
You know what though? I just hope the money is helping them or assisting them in a way that matters, if they’re even making anything at all. Ad revenue doesn’t produce a lot most of the time and I can’t imagine the subscription service being very popular since we’re all broke as fuck and can find our own fic recommendations. Maybe they have medical bills like I do. Maybe they’re hungry and need it. Idk. I hope it’s worth it.
This is such a weird situation. Keep using the actual AO3 website, please, as they are a very important resource and deserve the traffic and support. You can, in fact, download fics for offline reading directly from there and in several formats. Most mobile devices now support the file structure/hierarchy to be able to download and store files if you’re up to date on iOS/Android.
The best course of action in this case is:
1.) Report the app for DMCA and copyright infringement. As we own the copyrights to our works, they cannot be legally hosted without our permission. On the Google Play store, hit the three dots near the app title, click Flag As Inappropriate, select Other, and describe the infringement as neatly as possible.
2.) Under Developer Contact, the email of the app creator is listed. Send them a cordial email with your writing handles to inform them that you did not consent to having your works hosted on their app, which means what they're doing is, again, illegal. They might not listen to one author, but eventually they'll get the message. Don't harass them, of course.
3.) Using the links provided above, file a DMCA report on whichever version you use (iOS or Android). I know that copyright laws can be murky, but if enough people file a claim, the app will be removed. Neither Google nor Apple want to open themselves up to a lawsuit.
4.) In any works you post, place a note that says that you do not consent to your work being hosted on any unofficial apps, particularly ones with ad revenue and subscription services. Name it or don't name it, but let your readers know that you are very uncomfortable with the idea of your work being used without your permission, particularly with an intuitive mobile reader already available via the web browser.
5.) Spread the word. This does not just affect certain people. Everyone who has posted to A03 has their work on this app. I posted a story on February 14, and it was there on February 15. Let your friends, readers, and mutuals know that this app exists, and that it is stealing their works and profiting from them.
All of my works are on this and I am going to send a notice to the creator of the app and if they do not remove any of the works on there, especially my own, then I can and will sue them because 4 of my works on there are not fanfiction.
4 of the works are part of my IP and that gives me the right to sue because this person is trying to make a profit off of my own original work.
I suggest if anyone else here has posted anything from their IPs on AO3 to check and see if anything from that IP is on the app.
If it is then you can actually sue them for this.
@garrettauthor @jennamoreci check for fan fiction for your works as well. Every author, especially those who use ao3 need to be aware of this.
