The Slayer's Fanfic Archive
| Archive | |
|---|---|
| Name: | The Slayer's Fanfic Archive :: An Online Collection of Buffy and Angel Fanfiction |
| Date(s): | 1997-2006 |
| Archivist: | Rave |
| Founder: | Anya McLerie |
| Type: | Fanfic |
| Fandom: | BtVS, AtS |
| URL: | http://slayerfanfic.com/[dead link]; SFA (via WBM) |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Slayer's Fanfic Archive was a large Buffyverse fanfiction archive founded in 1997. It accepted all types of fanfiction, requiring only that stories be accurately rated. The archivists reserved the right to reject stories with graphic sex or violence. The archive was associated with the SFA Fanfiction and Discussion List, a fanfiction list for non-adult rated stories. The site was affiliated with The Slayer Net.
Welcome To The Slayer's Fan Fic Archive. Home to one of the largest and oldest Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel The Series fanfiction archives. SFA has been online since 1997.
Archive staff were:
- Rave
- Barbie Girl (Becca)
- biscuit07
- Filmtheory (Jim)
- Malice (Jess)
- MebbtheScribe (MichaelB)
- Reset (Allie)
- Shay (Marrisa)
- somnambulist29 (Shea)
- Stephanie Loss
- Wendyness (Wendy)
History
The archive was founded in 1997 by Anya McLerie and hosted by Alex Cook (Biohaz). In January 2003, Anya turned over ownership to Rave. In July 2004, Rave posted that her co-archivists were inaccessible. By July 2006, Rave was not answering messages, and the site appears to have gone offline around September 2006.
Subject of a Cease and Desist
In 1999, this archive was supposedly the subject of some unwanted attention. "... in 1999, Twentieth Century Fox actually contacted the owners of The Slayers FanFic Archive with cease and desist letters. Those people obediently took down their web site and removed their fic from the Web." [1]
From the August 19, 1999 letter, which can be seen in its entirety at Chilling Effects:
We recently discovered that your web site (http://slayerfanfic.com) contains unauthorized derivative works of The Buffy Copyrights and Trademarks in the form of transcripts of the scripts of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Attached hereto are sample downloads from your site.
Fox tries to support its fans whenever possible. However, after reviewing your web site we must request that you remove all transcripts relating to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" from your web site as soon as possible. You are hereby put on notice that the unauthorized use of Fox's proprietary material, as well as the reproduction, sale and/or distribution by you of such unauthorized and/or derivative materials (including providing such items for free on the Internet) constitutes copyright infringement and trademark infringement, and potentially subjects you to both criminal and civil sanctions.
We also request that you remove any and all links to other sites containing infringing "Buffy the Vampire Slayer " material. You are hereby put on notice that liability for contributory copyright infringement can emanate from your providing such links.
Finally, we note that your site contains "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" stationary-frame images. We must inform you that the unauthorized display and distribution of such images constitutes a copyright violation. While we are not asking you to delete these images at this time, we must nonetheless request that you revise your legal notice and prominently display the following on every page of your site exhibiting any "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" images.
This most likely refers to the removal of AleXander's episode transcripts from the site, following a C&D from Fox. According to SFA admins, "as per the legal requirements of 20th Century Fox, the Episode Transcripts for Buffy the Vampire Slayer© have been shut down and removed. We hosted these transcripts for nearly 3 years, and will miss them, but law is law." [2] The removal of the transcripts resulted in a petition to have them restored. See an archived version of the Petition's main page, here. And the petition itself here. From that petition:
The transcripts in question were a valuable resource to BtVS fans all over the world. They provided new fans with a way to catch up with the show and gave established fans a way to look up dialogue and other details as well as review past episodes, revitalizing their love of the show. They attracted many people and converted them into fans of the show. They helped to keep people's interest alive during the summer and served as a wonderful resource for quizzes, quotes, and trivia. [...] By taking such a major online feature off the web, Fox is actually likely to alienate many fans by making them feel that Fox is attacking the fan community. It is a sad thing to say, but it is true.
The petition also refers to the fact that Joss Whedon was aware of the transcripts hosted at SFA and had been supportive of them in the past. This fan campaign was ultimately unsuccessful but it raised awareness. An article in the magazine Reason, entitled Copy Catfight: How intellectual property laws stifle popular culture highlighted the conflict between IP rights and the creative expression of fans. The removal of AleXander's transcripts was referenced in the manifesto of Buffy's Bringers, a fan group that was formed in 1999 to raise awareness of under threat fansites and provide assistance to fans in dispute with corporate copyright holders.[3]
There is anger in the air. 20th Century Fox has decided to start "controlling" Buffy sites on the web. Sites such as "Sounds of the Slayer" which had wonderful buffy voice clips, AleXander's hard worked on transcripts and others have been pulled from the web due to threats from FOX. This is an outrage. They didn't care about the sites in the beginning, it was good publicity for them and their shows. But now that the shows are excelling, FOX has decided to show everyone who's the boss. Please join the fight, go to The Buffy Bringers, to learn more.[4]
Contents
On 31 August 2006, the last date captured by the Wayback Machine, The Slayer's Fanfic Archive had 4662 stories (3867 BtVS, 763 AtS) from 2983 authors.