YouTubers and Patreon creators profitting off of your scripts?

Thanks for making a post about this. This happens to me all the time, especially with my SFW stuff. I have....complicated feelings about it? As writer and sometimes performer, I'll admit that I love writing more than performing. But the thing about being a writer is that you do A LOT of work for not a lot of attention. I've never had a script take me less than three hours and most take way longer. Of course, I know that plenty of performers put a ton of effort and time into their work too. But they get a lot more acknowledgement and sometimes payment for it.

Obviously, I don't generally mind this. If I wanted attention for my writing, I'd just go to one of the dirty writing subreddits or post on literotica. But I'd also prefer that my writing not be treated as it's a mere disposal tool to somebody else's success rather than it's own work. While the VAST majority of performers I've worked with are great about giving me credit, I always feel that way whenever my writing gets put on another platform without my consent.

Please think about why writers spend hours working on script. Every writer has a different answer, but all of the answers likely involve 'to hear somebody perform it'. They don't get to hear performances that wind up on other platforms or behind patron walls unless the performer tells them or sends them the audio. They also don't get to see any of the compliments about the writing or story. And typically performers on those platforms don't credit the writer when they those type of compliments.

Moreover, in my case, I write because I enjoy making art with another person. I love the idea of somebody taking my creation and adding their own voice to it (both figuratively and literally). I love the way that our work comes to life together. It's absolutely amazing. But it's important to me that it's viewed as a collaboration. If not by the audience, then at least by the performer. And, like with any collaboration, you would want to discuss with your collaborator before doing something new with the content because part of the content is theirs.

I get really frustrated with some of the comments I've gotten along the lines of: 'At least somebody filled your script' or 'at least it's exposure'. For one thing, I'm not sure why I should be excited about script fills that I had to google to even find and sometimes can't access without paying? Moreover, I get a bit annoyed with the ideology some people have the performers are 'doing scriptwriters a favor'. I LOVE fills of my scripts, but I never think of it as a favor. Much like I imagine that many performers don't think of it as a favor when somebody's script helps them get a few new followers. For me, it's more like two people working together. I'm just really lucky that I get to have so many awesome collaboration. partners.

As I posted in a comment in the other thread, legalities aside, morally I don't think it's okay to take writers work without their consent. When writers post, they consent for their work to be used on that platform only (obviously, many writers will grant further permissions than this but it should be the starting assumption. To see why, imagine an analogous case with performers. By posting audios on reddit, you consent to those audios being listened to (much like writers consent to their scripts being filled). Now, imagine that somebody takes your audio and posts it on another platform. BUT they still give you credit and don't make any money from it. In this case, the poster can tell you all the same thing I get told whenever one of my scripts gets filled outside of reddit: "Oh, well. I credited you" "Oh, well. I'm not making money off it" "You should feel grateful that I liked it so much to put it here" "This is really just exposure for you".

Still upset? A lot of people justifiably would be. You didn't consent for your work to be taken off reddit and now all your positive feedback is going to somebody else. Some writers feel that way too.

/r/GWABackstage Thread