For the benefit of the FFML at large, I have the following information about the situation.

The webmaster of mediaminer.org has requested that any authors who have issues over the presence of their stories on the site contact him at webmaster@mediaminer.org in order that the situation can be resolved.

For those unaware, the matter of authors' fanfics being placed on mediaminer.org without their knowledge or permission seems to have arisen because Brian Edmonds (the coordinator of the newsgroup rec.arts.anime.creative) was asked by mediaminer.org for permission to mirror the entire archive.  Brian granted this permission as much as he could, given the particular nature of material posted to newsgroups, with some conditions upon it.  Brian has posted his version of the story to the newsgroups rec.arts.anime.creative and rec.arts.anime.fandom.

I have found the webmaster quite civil, cooperative and polite in my dealings with him over the issue, and would suggest that the same approach is best for dealing with the situation for all those involved.  My own fanfics were removed promptly at my request.

As near as I can tell (and I have looked into the issue fairly carefully, and spoken to the parties involved as best I can), this unfortunate situation arose due to a misunderstanding in which mediaminer.org believed they had gone through the proper channels by contacting Brian Edmonds to ask and receive his permission to mirror the RAAC archives, and a great number of the authors whose fics were mirrored disagreed once they found out what was going on.

I am making this post in order to convey what I feel is important information for the FFML at large, and to encourage a calm and civil approach to dealing with what could potentially become a combative issue.  This does not open the mediaminer.org issue for public commentary and debate again, in order to keep the focus of the FFML where it should be: on the posting of fanfiction, and upon commentary on it.

-Alan Harnum, FFML Moderation Team

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