The Letter
Mr. Wilson and associates,
I'm sure my opinion means nothing to you, just as the opinions of all the other loyal BtVS fans mean nothing, however I feel an overwhelming urge to submit said opinion. For lack of a better word, Mr. Wilson, the Fox network is behaving in a fashion similar to that of a schoolyard bully. We, the viewers of what is sure to go down in history as your most successful television series, are being bullied out of our wonderful internet community. We work hard to build our tributes to the show, its cast and creator. There is NOTHING we want more than to see Buffy the Vampire Slayer continue for years and years to come. This is where the logic in ripping apart our rather tight knit cyber-Buffyverse eludes me.
WE are the viewers. WE are the reason that buying the rights to the show was such a sound investment for your network. WE are the reason BtVS holds the status it does. WE want to know how our zines and sites are decreasing the value of your precious commodity.
Are you losing money over the publication of our amateur transcripts? Are you likely to go bankrupt because we like to feature pictures of the actors on our sites? Will you be out of a job, Sir, without money to support your family or keep a roof over your head if we display screen captures from the episodes of BtVS? I really don't think so. On the contrary, will our sites bring attention to the series and interest from otherwise uninterested potential viewers? Won't our huge testimonials in the form of blood, sweat and tears show others that a series must be something special in order to invoke such hard work? Do we ask for money for our endorsement?
Let me ask you, Mr. Wilson, can you name every episode between "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and "Graduation Part2"? Can you tell me how many colors Seth Green has died his hair in the past three years? Without picking up a report or opening a file folder, can you list each movie that each actor has made an appearance in over the course of their career? If I'm not mistaken, you don't have any idea where to begin in the answering of these questions, but I assure you there are people who do, and they live here, in cyber space.
If you think that the bulk of your viewers are sitting at home watching without the supplement of a site of their own and/or a list of BtVS sites bookmarked longer than your list of credentials, then you are mistaken.
We are the most dedicated fans you will ever find. In short, without us, there isn't a reason to broadcast every Monday night. No reason to pay the stars their big bucks, and no reason for your pricey promotional ads.
So I ask you, Mr. Wilson, why are you tearing us down? Will this sort of treatment help or hinder your situation in the end?
Sincerely,
A concerned BtVS viewer / webmistress
|
The Background Info
I am a webmaster deeply concerned with the present and future upholding of 20th Century Fox's copyrights relative to the BtVS series and the potential damage to our BtVS websites. There are three ways to support our cause. The first is to place our logo (right) on your website. The second is to mail the URL to this site to EVERYONE you can! The third (and most effective choice) is to support me in my letter to FOX. |
|
The Facts
- Fox has banned the publication of amateur episode transcripts due to copyright infringement.
- The Sounds of the Slayer web site has been shut down,
- This action could quite possibly progress (and may have already progressed) to new restrictions including prohibition of screencap, direct quote, episode summary, audio/video clip, and promotional photo displays on independant websites.
- Without these things our web sites would be bland, uninteresting, and no longer our creation. Our hard work would be worthless.
- Fox does not value our loyalty to the series.
- Fox believes that the series can continue without our support.
- Fox DOES own the rights to BtVS.
- We do NOT claim to own Fox's belongings, nor make any money from the use of these Fox-owned materials.
- Our disclaimers do NOT seem to be enough anymore.
- If you display Fox-owned materials on YOUR site, your site is at risk.
How to Support Me & the Cyber Buffy-verse
Fill out the form below and I will print out your comments and send them to FOX with my letter.
Please fill in all the blanks on this form to let me know what you;re feelings are regarding the campaign and FOX.
The Comments
~I run two websites, and I'm afraid for my sites, frankly. Please, if there is anything else I can do, please let me know. I'm willing to do anything to keep my site and those like it up on the net.
~I live in Australia and there are a great deal of BtVs fans in my country and we would hate to lose out because a few people who are just in it for the money want to destroy our show.
~YAH! DOWN WITH FOX!
~FOX is evil. Thank you so much for your work.
~They need to understand that this is the best, fastest way to get people turned off, because most people don't like to be pushed around like that!
~Thanks for taking a stand for the buffy sites . I'm a Club and site owner who's dedicated to providing buffy info and pics to my friends and potential veiwers I totally agree and will help in any way I can.
~I think Fox needs to realize that they need to let the general public (us) express our views on our favorite TV show. It would be different if independent Buffy sites were individual money-making tools, which they are not... in some cases, the Buffy sites are actually money-making tools for Fox since some sites link back for merchandise etc. I think Fox needs to realize that the online individual websites are actually Free Advertising!!! OK 'nough said...someone needs to get a clue.
~As you've written above, without the fans, BtVS would have been killed in it's first run and the creators would be out of a job. It's about time the viewers banned together and reminded the network Execs of this. With out us, they have no work.
~as a loyal btvs viewer i was infuriated to discover that fox would do such a thing to its loyal watchers!! keep up the good work!
~I will so definitely be supporting you - and I passed on your letter to everyone I know. And i'll display your button on my site AND my message board. I'll do my best to support the season premiere blackout, but I can't actually do it because I'm from England... and we're not up to there yet, but I will tell as many US Buffsters as possible to do the same. Go girl!
~Even though I'm in England and don't have Sky so I can't watch it anyway, I am still supporting you. I will put the campaign button on my site .
I agree it is about time someone put up a site like this Fox has bullied us for the last time I am glad someone has stood up to their tyranny. Thanks!
~What Fox did was completely unfair! I know they have certain rights to the show, but please! I mean *we* are what make up Buffy as you put in that wonderful letter of yours. If they continue then the show won't be as popular as it is now. More and more fans use the internet to get info. on their favorite shows! So why else would we go the extra mile to make picts. and use quotes, etc., but show how much we love the show. All of the sites that I have seen are all so unique and original in their own way. What Fox is doing is taking away our own creativity! I agree that Fox should be stopped, because they'll only keep going after more and more sites. They need to realize that *we* make-up the show and without us it wouldn't be at the top!
~fox's overprotectiveness of certain of it's legal rights is uncalled for. Fox is shoting itself in the foot by persuing fan sites that contain photos, and transcripts, especially considering that these sites are not making any money for the web masters who run them. I suport any effective protest against this behavior on FOX's part, but your meathod of doing so reveals a lack of understanding of how ratings are obtained. Nealson ratings are obtained from a scientific sampling. In otherwords if you aren't a nealson family no one's going to know or care if you watch the season preimere. Boycotting the sponcers (companies that advertise) of Buffy would be a more effective method of protest. Finally let me say that I commend you for your effort because it is a worth while cause.
~I don't happen to agree with the opinion that ratings are only calculated by nealson's families anymore. We don't even have that in Canada. If you can count hits on a website, you can count hits on a channel. I don't think prominent TV mogels would let such technology go unexplored, and besides that, the advertisers may, but likely won't, notice a drop in sales, but even if they did, they wouldn't know how or why. They rely on ratings to decide where to place their advertisements, they wouldn't know who stopped buying their products. They wouldn't decide to stop advertising during BtVS unless ratings dropped. There may be other more effective strategies out there, but that's not one of them. If we band together, we CAN make a difference!
