Mashable has reached out to Thompson for comment on this, and we will update this article if we receive a response. Thompson addressed the writers directly in his final Twitter video (opens in a new tab), saying he'd love to work with them to find a resolution. Thompson tweeted about the scheduled deletion but didn't obscure the name of the author who'd filed the final strike, which led to them being harassed by Thompson's fans (he later deleted the tweet and admitted his mistake). Craig Thompson, a YouTuber known as Mini Ladd, issued a public apology (opens in a new tab) after his channel was threatened with deletion due to the copyright strikes it received from NoSleep writers. While the movement has received widespread support, there have also been dissenting voices. NoSleep going dark.ĭespite progress, not everything has been plain-sailing. "Ultimately, we want to achieve a standard baseline of pay for all writers when negotiating with any content creator that makes substantial profit on various platforms, build bridges with smaller or non-profit channels that can foster good relations as they grow, educate writers on what constitutes fair rates for their work (online adaptations pay differently to a publication, for example), educate narrators on copyright laws, and ensure everyone benefits," Lea said. Creeps (opens in a new tab), and negotiations with other narrators are ongoing. Writers involved in the movement have made contact with large YouTube narrators like Mr. So far, Lea said, the Blackout is progressing well. "It was what helped the Blackout get its start leading by example." "Over the last few months, I have moved to taking several narrators to task when finding out they used my work without my permission, in every single case I was successful and got my rightful compensation," Lea said. For a while, he said, it even killed his love of writing. And as Lea saw more and more people narrating, sharing and adapting The Expressionless, he started growing more and more frustrated. Some took it without credit, while others said they couldn't afford to pay him. The outcome, Lea explained, was a lot of people trying to profit off his work. I was naive, as so many bright-eyed writers and performers are when they get thrust into such a bright spotlight." "Even when they asked permission, I just agreed and thought exposure was better. "YouTube culture was different in those days and attributing works for free was just a given, nobody thought about the consequences," he explained. Lea described the fallout as immediate and everlasting. "I mean *exploded* to the point that Twitter was freaking out over it, Snopes had to run a debunking article (opens in a new tab) on it and YouTube influencers left, right and centre were jumping on it to react." "Within 24 hours it had exploded," Lea told Mashable. How Reddit is helping horror writers find success At the encouragement of a friend, he decided to upload it to the CreepyPasta Wikia. Back in 2012, during a creative writing lesson at university, Lea wrote a short horror story called The Expressionless. Like many NoSleep writers, Lea has firsthand experience with this issue. The fight for fair compensation.Īlthough the closure of NoSleep was only announced a week ago, its roots go back further.Īt the start of February, British horror writer and NoSleep contributor T-Jay Lea (opens in a new tab) created something called The Writers Blackout (opens in a new tab) – a "movement designed to help authors receive fair compensation from YouTube narrators via direct mediation and/or advice from experienced writers," according to the pinned FAQ (opens in a new tab) at the top of the subreddit's page. So what is the closure all about, and how did it start? As a horror writer and regular NoSleep poster myself, I've been following the situation as it's unfolded. Thousands of readers across the world, many of whom check in for their nightly dose of scares, will be met with the above message. The stories posted there regularly receive thousands of upvotes (the all-time most upvoted story has around 38,000), and a huge number of new stories are posted each day. It's no exaggeration to say that a huge number of people will be affected by this closure.Īccording to the tracking tool Reddit Metrics, Reddit is currently home to almost two million subreddits – and in terms of subscriber count, NoSleep is in the top 50 overall (opens in a new tab). NoSleep has gone private in support of its authors.
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