Boztopia.com

For those not on LiveJournal or who don’t follow comics news, an interesting event happened early this weekend that has a big ripple effect in the ongoing war between content creators, content distributors, and content consumers. It may not seem like a big deal, but it is when you give it a second look.

Basically, Scans Daily, one of the biggest LiveJournal community sites, and one devoted to commenting on scans or rips of comics pages (usually with a heavy snark level and equally heavy on the LGBT/slash perspective), got shut down for allegedly violating Marvel Comics’ copyright. Peter David made Marvel aware of it when he was informed that very large portions of “X-Factor” #40 were scanned and posted on the site, and spoiled extensively, thus freeing the viewers from actually buying the issue. David offers more commentary and context on his blog, while SD fan Gail Simone offers another perspective.

On the one hand, Scans Daily as a community had mixed value. Anyone who’s posted there or commented knows how unfriendly it could be to noobs, and I personally didn’t see much point in endless tee-hee-ing over posting panels out of context looking for TEH GHEY, or bitching about whatever Bendis wrote this month that everyone hated. Stuff like that gets old fast, and as Lisa Fortuner points out, it gives fans of the community a chance to stay involved in the comics scene without actually paying for anything:

The majority of comics criticism is negative, after all, and Scans_Daily was an easy place to link the negative criticisms in and explain why someone who hated the book knew so intimately what was happening between the covers. And this wasn’t just outside community, this was in the comments. This was in the member’s livejournals. “I’m boycotting DC because they killed my favorite character, but can you believe they did THIS?” “I wouldn’t let a penny go to Brian Michael Bendis, but you’ll never believe where he’s taking the Avengers NOW…”

The endless loop of unpleasantness that is comics fandom is one reason why I’ve quit full-time comics collecting, and I certainly don’t feel much sympathy for watching a site go down that was a primary factor in perpetuating that codependent “I hate you but can’t leave you” sickness that typifies much of comic fandom.

But it’s not as simple as that either.

Whatever else you may think of SD, Gail is right in pointing out that it was a major comics community not beholden to the industry, as the major sites like Newsarama, CBR, etc. are. Just like the typical corporate media relies on business and government for “access” and exclusives, comics media relies on the goodwill of Marvel and DC to ensure it gets front-row seats at all the cons, exclusive previews, etc. That naturally leads to generally favorable (or at least not negative) treatment of the content itself. Places like SD, which did not rely on Joe Quesada’s or Dan Didio’s largesse, were free to call bullshit on bullshit, and give people who love comics but hate the industry as it stands a chance to vent in a friendly space. We need more places like that, not less.

Now, as far as the issue of infringing on copyright goes, this is another example of the vagueness and broadness of law colliding with entrenched business interests who are paranoid about their futures. What constitutes “fair use” when it comes to scanning comic pages, for instance? Is one panel okay? One page? Five pages? Where is the line drawn, or scanned in this case? Who decides when it’s okay to use something like SD to promote work and get people interested in buying a comic, and when it’s flagrant copyright infringement?

Although it’s not as much of a hotpoint in the comics industry as it is in Hollywood or the music industry, comics execs like to complain a lot about how ‘”piracy” is bringing down the medium and costing creators (and companies) money. Of course, that’s not the real problem–the real problem is endlessly rising comics prices while the actual content gets lower and lower. Charging $3.99 for an issue of “Whatever Avengers” that I can read in less than 10 minutes because it’s all setup and filler, written for the trade, is the real problem. Mainstream comics are controlled, for the most part, by the same corporate structures as the music and movie industries, who approach the problem the same way–by gouging customers with higher prices while slowly draining away the value of the content itself.

Of course, all that cracking down on legit (or morally grey) communities will do is drive angry fans further into the realms of real piracy, through Torrent sites and what not, which further alienates fans from the creators and ensures a hostile environment where the writer is an adversary, rather than a friend. Larry Lessig wrote about this at length in his excellent book “Remix”–by not working with fans of the remix culture, and by treating them as criminals, we will push them to become criminals, and where will that lead?

What’s the alternative? Digital distribution of comics is the way to go, especially if they avoid digital rights management and go the route of Amazon or now iTunes. I’d buy a single issue for $2 or a full trade for $12 online if I could get it free, without encumberance, and share it with my friends through posting portions on my blog. More than that, comics creators and the companies they work for need to look at how badly the RIAA and MPAA have mishandled their respective wars against content buyers, and start treating communities like Scans Daily as partners and potential avenues of promotion. Work with the fans, not against them.

And the fans have to bear some responsibility as well. If you despise the current comics scene that much, do what I did and GTFO–that’s “Get The Fuck Out” for those who don’t speak Internet. Seriously. Stop perpetuating the endless cycle of unpleasantness that makes comic communities, conventions, and the like so toxic. If you don’t like the hobby, get a new one. Or better yet, sit down at the computer or drawing board and start making your own shit. Get those comics online or find yourself a distributor, and you’ll see firsthand that the act of creation deserves respect, even if the end result sucks.

Put more simply, you may hate what Bendis or whomever is doing, but they’re out there doing it. What are you doing?