Several popular shops, which clearly violated Etsy's terms of use and IP laws, were deleted after 404 Media reached out for comment.

Etsy sellers are turning free fanfiction into printed and bound physical books, and listing them for sale on online marketplaces for more than $100 per book. It’s a problem that’s rattling the authors of those fanfics, as well as their fans and readers.

Several sellers, easily found on Etsy and very popular, each with hundreds of five-star reviews, are selling copies of fanfiction taken from sites like Archive of Our Own (Ao3) and reselling them as bound books. The average price of these bound copies is around $149. Some sellers claim that they’re simply covering the cost of materials, while others just sell the books, usually with the fanfiction writers’ Ao3 username on the cover.

  • paraphrand@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    9 months ago

    Cynical nerds will just tell you this is how the internet is and always was. They will tell you moderation is basically impossible. And they will go on and on about other things related to those things.

    I really hate how “the internet” gets so compartmentalized. It’s a communication medium that exists in the real world. It’s not an alternate reality.

    I hope we can move from expecting every platform and website to house the best and worst of humanity. But maybe it’s just the neckbeards who expect that. I hope so.

    Sorry for my rant. But I deeply sympathize with the sentiment in your comment. I don’t think the internet has to be a shithole.