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From:	Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject:	Fanzines (was Re: FASA News)
Date:	Thu, 1 Oct 1998 20:39:33 +0200

Message no. 1 According to M. Sean Martinez, at 13:06 on 1 Oct 98, the word on the street was...

> Shadowland was far too expensive for the content, though I balme it on the
> materials used. The paper was a heavier wight than the source books and the
> cover was heavy card stock.

Yep.

> Now while it may last through whatever torture a gamer may put it through, the
> overall quality of articles were not worth the money.
>
> I think the last issue was the best as far as editing and presentation went.

Except the awful practice of breaking off an article and continuing it
elsewhere in the magazine (still, that seems to be common practice in
American magazines, regardless of the subject matter; I've yet to see a
European one that does it on a regular basis, though). Shadowland #7 was
especially bad in that it continued an article on an _earlier_ page...

> Does anyone know what the actual laws are on creating a fanzine? Is it illegal
> to do so?

No idea. I figure you just start making it, and use the same rule of thumb
as "we" web-publishers use: make no profit and it should be okay. If in
doubt, though, I think you'd best ask FASA.

(My main reasons for not starting a fanzine myself, though, have nothing
to do with any laws regarding these things, either here or in the US.)

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
"Nobody's going to murder anyone here even if it means I have to
kill someone!" --Kane, detective/rigger
-> NERPS Project Leader * ShadowRN GridSec * Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-
-> The New Character Mortuary: http://www.electricferret.com/mortuary/ <-

GC3.1: GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+(++)@ U P L E? W(++) N o? K- w+ O V? PS+
PE Y PGP- t(+) 5++ X++ R+++>$ tv+(++) b++@ DI? D+ G(++) e h! !r(---) y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998

From:	"XaOs [David Goth]" <xaos@*****.NET>
Subject:	Re: Fanzines (was Re: FASA News)
Date:	Sun, 4 Oct 1998 01:41:35 -0500

Message no. 2 > > Does anyone know what the actual laws are on creating a
> fanzine? Is it illegal
> > to do so?

Fanzines (as a general term) are FAR from illegal. But you're really talking
about copyright issues here anyway.

> No idea. I figure you just start making it, and use the same rule of thumb
> as "we" web-publishers use: make no profit and it should be okay. If in
> doubt, though, I think you'd best ask FASA.

It's a rare thing for a fanzine to make a profit anyway, so I doubt very
much that this'll ever be a concern. Anyway, for copyright issues, just talk
to FASA or read up on the laws yourself. I'm sure there are places online to
find about this. (And the scientology web site on the issue is a tad biased,
so I'd steer clear from there).

Anyway, there is a good magazine called "Factsheet Five" that covers nothing
but fanzines.

-XaOs-
xaos@*****.net
-David Goth-

From:	Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject:	Re: Fanzines (was Re: FASA News)
Date:	Sun, 4 Oct 1998 11:43:57 +0200

Message no. 3 According to XaOs [David Goth], at 1:41 on 4 Oct 98, the word on the street was...

> > No idea. I figure you just start making it, and use the same rule of thumb
> > as "we" web-publishers use: make no profit and it should be okay. If
in
> > doubt, though, I think you'd best ask FASA.
>
> It's a rare thing for a fanzine to make a profit anyway, so I doubt very
> much that this'll ever be a concern.

Not to mention that the word FANzine indicates this is done by people who
have a non-professional interest in the subject matter, and so probably
won't care about making money, as long as they don't lose some (or too
much).

> Anyway, for copyright issues, just talk to FASA or read up on the laws
> yourself.

Good suggestion, but you have to keep in mind that different nationalities
could be involved here. If I for example were to start a fanzine, it'd
fall under Dutch law while any advice I could get from FASA would be from
an American POV -- and from what I've seen and read, there are important
differences at work here.

> I'm sure there are places online to find about this. (And the
> scientology web site on the issue is a tad biased, so I'd steer clear
> from there).

I'd steer clear of it anyway :)

> Anyway, there is a good magazine called "Factsheet Five" that covers
nothing
> but fanzines.

And where would one get this magazine?

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
"Nobody's going to murder anyone here even if it means I have to
kill someone!" --Kane, detective/rigger
-> NERPS Project Leader * ShadowRN GridSec * Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-
-> The New Character Mortuary: http://www.electricferret.com/mortuary/ <-

GC3.1: GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+(++)@ U P L E? W(++) N o? K- w+ O V? PS+
PE Y PGP- t(+) 5++ X++ R+++>$ tv+(++) b++@ DI? D+ G(++) e h! !r(---) y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998

From:	"XaOs [David Goth]" <xaos@*****.NET>
Subject:	Re: Fanzines (was Re: FASA News)
Date:	Sun, 4 Oct 1998 15:09:44 -0500

Message no. 4 > Good suggestion, but you have to keep in mind that different nationalities
> could be involved here. If I for example were to start a fanzine, it'd
> fall under Dutch law while any advice I could get from FASA would be from
> an American POV -- and from what I've seen and read, there are important
> differences at work here.

Heh, I tend to get a bit pissy when someone tries to tell me that I can't
make a fanzine because of a corp. As an American, I'm especially aware of my
right of Freedom of Speech. And fanzines are a pretty good source of free
speech.

> > Anyway, there is a good magazine called "Factsheet Five" that
> covers nothing
> > but fanzines.
>
> And where would one get this magazine?

Coincidentally enough, they have a web version at http://www.factsheet5.com.
I haven't checked it out much yet, but I'd imagine you could order a print
version from there.

-XaOs-
xaos@*****.net
-David Goth-

From:	Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject:	Re: Fanzines (was Re: FASA News)
Date:	Mon, 5 Oct 1998 11:54:27 +0200

Message no. 5 According to XaOs [David Goth], at 15:09 on 4 Oct 98, the word on the street was...

> Heh, I tend to get a bit pissy when someone tries to tell me that I can't
> make a fanzine because of a corp. As an American, I'm especially aware of my
> right of Freedom of Speech. And fanzines are a pretty good source of free
> speech.

Americans always seem to assume nobody else in the world has that right...
(And may I remark that, from what I've seen, I likely have free-er (?)
speech than you do in some areas...) Anyway, let's not turn this into an
OT thread about current-day American laws and practices, as those tend to
lead to flame wars :)

My reasons for not doing an SR fanzine are several, most of them practical
rather than legal; that doesn't take away that I would still like to do
one, though :)

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Love don't live here anymore.
She had to move out when Cobain shot himself.
-> NERPS Project Leader * ShadowRN GridSec * Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-
-> The New Character Mortuary: http://www.electricferret.com/mortuary/ <-

GC3.1: GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+(++)@ U P L E? W(++) N o? K- w+ O V? PS+
PE Y PGP- t(+) 5++ X++ R+++>$ tv+(++) b++@ DI? D+ G(++) e h! !r(---) y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998

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