Geocities preservation question

[valarltd]

Several of them, actually, for the older media fen still on my flist.

Would it be a good idea to archive stories housed on Geocities elsewhere as part of a fandom preservation movement, en masse, without asking each indiviual author?

Would it be more okay if people could easily request deletion of the stories they wrote?

Will people request deletion politely and not fly into a fit of rage?

Is it worth any potential backlash to preserve those stories?

Comments

[gblvr.livejournal.com]

Send them over here! The OTW is giving beta AO3 accounts to GeoCities refugees, but they have to hurry, since GeoCities is closing on 10/26, and we don't want people to lose anything....

[partly-bouncy.livejournal.com]

Hey! :) I've been trying to get in touch with OTW, FanLore, etc. for some time to see if we could do some sort coordination between your project and Fan History so that we could preserve the history of fandom on Geocities together... because it needs to be done.

If you could quickly let some one know and get back to me to see what we can do before Geocities closes on the 26th, that would be awesome. We have some databases that might be useful and a bunch of screencaps (about 5 gigs) worth, a list of stories archived on Geocities, google descriptions of fansites on Geocities, etc. We wouldn't mind sharing or finding some way to work with you. but major major time crunch. :/

[partly-bouncy.livejournal.com]

*pokes* *pokes* Time is really running out. :) Would really appreciate a reply before Geocities closes. We could really use some help with last minute screencapping. We're pretty much willing to provide OTW with everything we have in order to get help for this big important project done for the good of the whole of fandom. Given the timeliness of this issue, I realize e-mail might be slow to coordinate a last minute push, so feel free to contact me on AIM at h2oeuqalswater, on google talk at laura@fanhistory.com, on IRC at irc.freenode.com in #fanhistory or #wiki. (My name is LauraHale.)

It would be fantastic to set aside differences for the good of all of fandom.

[gblvr.livejournal.com]

I simply do not have time before the deadline to work on another project -- I have all I can handle with requests from fans through the OTW site, and I'm right in the middle of running *and* writing a Big Bang. I have forwarded your request, though, and will let you know if anyone is free.

I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful, but I'm swamped. :(

[partly-bouncy.livejournal.com]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. :/ I totally get the time thing. We've tried repeatedly reaching out for a while and just frustrating that we can't get a reply considering how important this is. :(

And it shuts down tomorrow.

[reannon.livejournal.com]

I would strongly suggest NOT, and not because of backlash but because it leaves you liable. To post those stories elsewhere legally constitutes publication, and you have no legitimate rights to them. I'd suggest saving your own stories, and if you know the other authors, warn them that they'll vanish and suggest other places they can post, ask them if they will grant you the rights to repost them elsewhere. But don't grab other people's stories without their permission.

[coneyislandbaby]

Actually I think it's a good idea. There might be people unable to save the stories who want to.

I think it should be mandatory that there should be an easy way to request deletion.

Unfortunately it is impossible to predict the reactions. Ask yourself if you are willing to take the risk, maybe?

I think for some it is.

I just went through my geocities site the other day and saved copies of everything to my hard drive for uploading to AO3 but I am sure there are many it would be helpful to who might not even know the sites are going.

Also damn I wrote a lot ;)

[(Anonymous)]

The D-Man Checks In:

1.) NO. Whole mess of legal reasons for why this is a BAD idea, to say nothing of the potential backlash from the writer/author/publisher community.

2.) Slightly, but still I'd say, "NO."

3.) Better not to risk it, in my opinion. Only take one nose out of joint to create a scandal (or a law suit).

4.) Preserve them, if you must, in your own personal archives. If somebody should want them later, you have them.

[not-vacillating.livejournal.com]

Before I decided, I'd check whether the Wayback Machine had got them.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I'm sure someone has already said this - but this kind of thing has been tried more than once in various fandom and has caused huge trouble every time. You simply cannot archive people's stories without their permission.

[celestinenox]

I probably don't count as old media fen, but here are my responses anyway:

1) Have to agree with others who've said no. I know the point is preservation, but you should still ask each individual author if you can, and if you can't, then only repost the ones you were able to ask permission.

2) Maybe, probably not, if we're talking about someone who is looking for a reason to cry plagiarist.

3) Most probably would, but I can almost promise there would be those that wouldn't.

4) Not in my opinion. Not when you want to have a reputation as a serious author as well, and you don't really hide the identity of your fandom name. You don't want fandom wank, especially in what could be considered plagiarism by some, to follow you into your professional life. And you definitely don't want to end up on the list of known plagiarists at stop_plagiarism; those mods really do their research.