rec.arts.comics.misc

RAC/RACM FAQ

Part 1: The RAC Newsgroups and Posting to Them

by Carl Henderson
carl.henderson@airmail.net
Based on original FAQs by Francis Uy, Tom Galloway, Paul Estin, et al. 


1-1: WHAT ARE THE VARIOUS RAC NEWSGROUPS? AND WHAT ARE THEY FOR?

Below are brief descriptions of the various RAC newsgroups. They are
intended as general guidelines. For more complete and authoritative
information, see either the newsgroup charters (see section 8-1), 
individual group FAQs (see section 1-8), or the RAC FAQ, "A Guide to 
Posting on Rec.Arts.Comics.*" 

"A Guide to Posting on Rec.Arts.Comics.*" was originally written by
Jonathon Tuttle and Mike Chary, and is currently maintained by Andrew Black
(ablack@mediawave.com.au). It is posted regularly to most RAC newsgroups
and can also be found on the web at:
     http://www.enteract.com/~katew/faqs/guidefaq.htm

rec.arts.comics.alternative --Alternative comics. This is a tricky thing to 
define. See the rec.arts.comics.alternative charter below for more 
information.

rec.arts.comics.creative --Original written works in the "comic book" style. 
This group is not a place for fan fiction using trademarked/copyrighted 
character, or for posting comic art.

rec.arts.comics.dc.lsh --Discussion of DC's Legion of Superheroes books and 
characters.

rec.arts.comics.dc.universe --Discussions of DC universe books and characters. 
Specifically excludes Vertigo and Legion topics.
 
rec.arts.comics.dc.vertigo --Discussions of books and characters published 
under DC's Vertigo imprint. 

rec.arts.comics.elfquest --Discussions about the world and characters of 
Elfquest comics.

rec.arts.comics.european --Discussions of comics created and published in 
Europe, and intended for the European market. rec.arts.comics.european is not 
for discussions of comics by European creators working in the US market.

rec.arts.comics.info --Moderated group for announcements, news, and FAQs.

rec.arts.comics.marketplace --The ONLY place in the RAC* hierarchy for buying, 
selling, and auctioning comics. Ads are off-topic everywhere else.

rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe --Discussions of Marvel universe books and 
characters. Specifically excludes X-Men and related books. 

rec.arts.comics.marvel.xbooks --Discussions of the X-Men and related comics 
from Marvel's mutant "sub-universe."

rec.arts.comics.misc --Everything else. Anything that doesn't fall under 
another RAC* newsgroup's charter.

rec.arts.comics.other-media --Discussions of comic book characters in other 
(non-comics) media. 

rec.arts.comics.reviews --Moderated group for reviews of comics, and related 
subjects.

rec.arts.comics.strips --Discussions of comic strips, editorial cartoons, and 
single-panel cartoons.


1-2: WHAT ARE THE OFFICIAL CHARTERS FOR THESE NEWSGROUPS?

The full charters for the various RAC newsgroups can be found in Section 8
of this FAQ or on the web at: 
     http://www.whiterose.org/dr.elmo/faq/charters.html


1-3: WHAT ARE SOME OTHER NEWSGROUPS ABOUT COMICS?

There are quite a few comics-related newsgroups in the alt.comics and alt.fan 
hierarchies. Some of them even contain posts about comics:

alt.comics.2000ad
alt.comics.alan-moore
alt.comics.batman
alt.comics.dilbert
alt.comics.fan-fiction
alt.comics.fandom
alt.comics.image
alt.comics.jack-kirby
alt.comics.peanuts
alt.comics.superman
alt.fan.furry
alt.fan.neil-gaiman
alt.fan.peter-david
alt.books.cait-r-kiernan

A few of the alt.comics groups have graduated to the rec.arts.comics 
hierarchy:

alt.comics.lnh--moved to rec.arts.comics.creative
alt.comics.alternative--moved to rec.arts.comics.alternative

Keep in mind that for the purposes of deciding what's on-topic and what 
off-topic in the RAC hierarchy, alt groups don't count. For example, just 
because there is an alt.comics.image, does not mean that Image comics are no 
longer on topic for rec.arts.comics.misc.


1-4: WHAT'S UP WITH REC.ARTS.SF.SUPERMAN? HOW DOES THIS AFFECT THE RAC GROUPS?

According to the to rec.arts.sf.superman charter: 

     This group is for the discussion of the many media incarnations of the 
     character Superman, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. These 
     media include, but are not limited to: books, comics, prose novels, 
     movies, radio, television, and video. Neither the formation of this 
     group nor anything in this charter is intended to change the 
     appropriateness of discussing Superman in other groups where such 
     discussion is now appropriate. Specifically, discussion of Superman in 
     comics is on-topic both in rec.arts.sf.superman and 
     rec.arts.comics.dc.universe. We recommend appropriate crossposting of 
     discussion between this group and other appropriate groups, if for no 
     other reason than to increase the visibility of such discussions to   
     all fans of the Man of Steel."
         (http://members.aol.com/VARTOX/charter.html)

In other words, the existence of rec.arts.sf.superman has no effect on the RAC 
hierarchy, or on posting to it. Since, in practice, rec.arts.sf.superman has 
turned out to be a fairly low-traffic group, you should consider crossposting 
any rec.arts.sf.superman message to rec.arts.comics.dc.universe or 
rec.arts.comics.other-media (as appropriate). This will greatly increase the 
number of people that see a given Superman-related message.


1-5: WHAT ABOUT MANGA? WHY ISN'T THERE A REC.ARTS.COMICS.MANGA?

Manga (Japanese comics) are usually discussed on rec.arts.manga. However, 
manga are technically on-topic in rec.arts.comics.misc, as well. Most 
manga-related discussions on rec.arts.comics.misc tend to relate to English 
translations of manga and "American manga"--comics by American writers and 
artists done in the "manga style." 

For more information on manga, check out the rec.arts.manga FAQs
(maintained-and mostly written-by Steve Pearl) at:
     http://www.faqs.org/faqs/manga/

So why is rec.arts.manga not part of the rec.arts.comics hierarchy? Good 
question-and the topic of epic flame wars in the past. 

The typical rec.arts.manga answer to the question is reflected in Steve Pearl 
and Iain Sinclair's "Welcome to rec.arts.manga" FAQ:

     Most of alt.manga's readers felt that the name "rec.arts.comics.manga" 
     would be misleading, since the word "comics" does not accurately 
     describe manga in its entirety.  "rec.arts.comics.manga" also falsely 
     implies that manga is strongly related to Western comics, or somehow 
     subordinate to them. In addition, manga discussion was practically 
     unknown on rec.arts.comics, but took place on other newsgroups 
     instead.  However, most of these points were lost on a few self-styled 
     net."personalities", who loudly opposed rec.arts.manga.  They were 
     thoroughly defeated (513 YES, 226 NO) in the subsequent vote.

The typical RAC answer to the question is:

     Silly Usenet politics

Take your pick.


1-6: WHAT IS A TROLL? AND HOW DO I AVOID THEM?

A troll is a newsgroup vandal--someone who deliberately posts messages
designed to annoy, antagonize, or offend people. Almost without exception,
their purpose is to disrupt the newsgroup they are posting to. Don't give
them the satisfaction. The best way to deal with a troll is just to ignore
them--or better yet--killfile them. 

A killfile is a feature of a newsreader that allows you to block out
certain posts based on criteria you select (e.g., poster, subject, server,
crossposted groups). If your newsreader doesn't have a killfile, look into
upgrading to one that does. If you can't afford a newsreader upgrade,
NewsXpress, a basic Windows freeware newsreader, has a decent enough killfile.

One hint: if an article is cross-posted to alt.fan.karl-maldens-nose, then
that post is almost certainly a troll. 


1-7: WHERE CAN I POST ADS, AUCTION ANNOUNCEMENTS, OR WANT-TO-BUY NOTICES IN
THE REC.ARTS.COMICS.HIERARCHY?

The only place for such posts is in 
rec.arts.comics.marketplace.
RAC.marketplace is a newsgroup created for the purpose of for buying and
selling comics and comic-related items. 

In other words, RAC.marketplace is where your customers are. If you want to
reach them; post there. However, ads posted to other RAC newsgroups can
only serve to annoy potential customers--and you probably don't want to do
that.


1-8: WHAT ARE SOME POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES OF NOT FOLLOWING THESE POSTING
RULES?

Almost without exception, every legitimate ISP requires its users to abide
by a "Terms of Service Agreement" (ToS) or "Acceptable Use Policy" (AUP)
that forbids off-topic commercial posts to Usenet newsgroups. 

Depending on one's ISP, complaints about off-topic commercial postings can
result in actions ranging from a warning, to an immediate termination of
one's account. Some ISPs will even bill you for the time it takes them to
respond to such complaints (check your ToS/AUP--such clauses are becoming
increasingly more common).

While a lost account may seem like a minor inconvenience, if you have ads
posted or active auctions that use that email address as a point of
contact, it will quickly cost you sales--and money. Sales will be lost as
inquiries and order directed to your now-inactive account bounce. If you've
set up auctions with that email address, you probably find yourself unable
to access them.


1-9: WHY DO SOME SEARCH ENGINES SAY YOU CAN POST ADS IN OTHER RAC GROUPS?

This is a damn good question. They shouldn't. However, when a new used
enters "comic books for sale" into Deja.com's usenet search tool
(http://www.deja.com/usenet/), it directs them to a number of newsgroups,
including RAC.misc and RAC.marvel.universe; RAC.marketplace--the correct
forum for ads, auction announcements, and want to buy notices--does not
appear in the results. 

AOL's NetFind search engine (http://www.aol.com/netfind/newsgroups.html)
does the same thing. It directs users to RAC.marvel.universe, RAC.misc,
RAC.dc.universe, and RAC.marvel.xbooks--and not to RAC.marketplace.

It should come as no surprise that a very large percentage of off-topic
commercial posts to non-RAC.marketplace groups come from AOL and Deja.com
users. So why does Deja.com's software insist on directing users to post in
inappopriate newsgroup where ads are explicitly off-topic? 

It can't be from an examination of the newsgroup charters. According to the
RAC charters, ads are only appropriate in RAC.marketplace. It can't be from
from looking at the RAC FAQs. The RAC FAQs say the same thing. It can't
even be based on an analysis of how many times phrases and keywords like
"comic books for sale" appear in each newsgroup. If it were,
RAC.marketplace (which consists of nothing but such posts) would surely
appear at the top of the result lists--rather than not showing up at all.

Can this be fixed? Probably not. In the past a various RAC users have
called and emailed Deja.com and AOL about this problem. But the emails went
unanswered, and the calls were routed to the clueless (including an AOL
customer support supervisor who had never heard of Usenet before, and
suggested that I contact the administrator of the computer that Usenet was
hosted on).

But neither Deja.com nor AOL "own" or otherwise control Usenet. Newsgroup
charters are written, discussed, and voted upon by the RAC community (see
section 1-10). Just because AOL and Deja.com insist on acting cluelessly,
is no reason for anyone else to.


1-10: WHAT IS A SPAMMER? AND WHY DO SOME PEOPLE GET SO UPSET WHEN AN AD
APPEARS OUTSIDE OF RAC.MARKETPLACE?

On Usenet, "spammer" usually refers to a person who posts ads to inappropriate 
newsgroups. These inappropriate posts are called "spam" after a famous Monty 
Python skit, where the singing of "The Spam Song" drowned out any other 
conversation in the skit. While "spam" originally referred only to messages 
mass-posted (or mass-crossposted) to a certain critical threshold number of 
newsgroups, over time the word has come to be used for any inappropriate 
(usually) commercial posting. 

In the RAC hierarchy, the only appropriate place for ads is on 
rec.arts.comics.marketplace. Although some spammers may have political or 
religious agendas they are promoting with their spams, most are just trying to 
sell you something. You shouldn't buy from them. Here's why:

Spammers steal other's computer and network resources to send out their ads, 
and in doing so, nearly always violate a contractual agreement they entered in 
to. Every legitimate ISP has a terms of service policy/subscriber agreement 
prohibiting the posting of  "for sale" posts to inappropriate newsgroups. 
Clean up after spammers costs ISPs and backbone providers tens of millions of 
dollars every year. And much of that cost gets passed on to subscribers like 
us. Furthermore, many spammers sign up for accounts--intending up front--to 
violate the contract they sign, and leave the ISP on the hook for the costs of 
their spams. 

By their actions, spammers are thieves and liars. If they will not honor their 
agreements with their ISPs, why should you expect they would honor any 
agreement they make with you?

Don't be fooled by their attempts at self-justification. Spammers are not 
practicing free speech; they are practicing stolen speech.


1-11: WHY AREN'T ADS FOR ALL WEBSITES OFF-TOPIC?

Tom Galloway answered this question so well (in a post to RACMU), that
there's really nothing to add:

     Well, for starters, the web wasn't anywhere near as prominent, so 
     nothing was written into the rac.marketplace charter about them.
     They're also not buying and selling related, but information related. 
     There's a difference, for example, between the Newsarama folk posting 
     about new articles on their site, and the associated Another Universe 
     folk posting about new stuff for sale on their site. The latter would 
     definitely belong only in rac.marketplace.

     And while not in any actual charter, there's the generally accepted 
     policy that while pointers to significant new web content are OK, 
     flooding a group with posts just about pointers to the same website is 
     not. My general impression is that save for news sites (but including 
     commentary sites), more than once a week about new material is pushing 
     it, while for more general info/art sites, probably more than once a 
     month is too much.

     This, of course, doesn't count when people answer a question about, 
     say, an obscure Golden Age Timely character with a reference to Jess' 
     excellent site on same. Which of course is OK.

For more information on how to hype your website--without annoying
everyone, see section 1-18.


1-12: WHERE CAN I FIND OTHER RAC-RELATED FAQs?

Most of the rec.arts.comics hierarchy groups have their own FAQs which are 
posted to the relevant RAC newsgroups and rec.arts.comics.info on a regular 
basis. These FAQs can also be found on the web at the locations listed below:

rec.arts.comics.alternative FAQ
no current FAQ-Maintainer
Compiled and edited by: Paul A. Estin, Tom Galloway, Tonio Roque, and Michael 
Fragassi
     http://www.wraithspace.com/Comics/RACA/contents.html

rec.arts.comics.creative FAQ
Maintained by Russ Allbery-- eagle@eyrie.org
Compiled and edited by Jeff McCoskey and Russ Allbery
     http://www.eyrie.org/racc/faq.html

rec.arts.comics.dc.lsh FAQ
Maintained by the rec.arts.comics.dc.lsh FAQ Committee
Compiled and edited by Michael Grabois, Troy McNemar, Sidne Gail Ward, and 
Andrew Woodard
     http://www.idyllmtn.com/rac/dc/lsh/lsh_wlcm.htm

rec.arts.comics.dc.universe FAQ
Maintained by Greg "Elmo" Morrow-- morrow@physics.rice.edu
Compiled and edited by Greg "Elmo" Morrow, Jerry Franke, Elayne Riggs, Tom 
Galloway, and Paul A. Estin
     http://members.tripod.com/~comics_faq/racdcu.txt

rec.arts.comics.dc.vertigo FAQ
Maintained by Katie Schwarz-- kts@socrates.berkeley.edu
Compiled and edited by Katie Schwarz
     http://www.idyllmtn.com/rac/dc/vertigo/

rec.arts.comics.elfquest FAQ
Maintained by Dorinda Hartmann-- dmhartma@students.wisc.edu
Compiled and edited by Dorinda Hartmann and Sarah Harrison
     http://albrecht.ecn.purdue.edu/~harrison/EQFAQindex.html

rec.arts.comics.european
No FAQ or FAQ-Maintainer

rec.arts.comics.info FAQ
Maintained by Martin Wisse-- moderator@ad-astra.demon.nl
Compiled and edited by Martin Wisse and Jeremy Billones
     http://www.ad-astra.demon.nl/comix/racinfo.html

rec.arts.comics.marketplace FAQ
Maintained by Bart Gerardi-- bartgerardi@earthlink.net
Compiled and edited by Bart Gerardi, Derek R. Spencer, Patrick Sun, Joev 
Dubach, Jim Cowling, Dave Lillard, Dani Zweig, Eric Stieglitz, Craig Welsh, 
Wayne A Wong, and John Sinnott.
     http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Battlefield/2571/racmfaq.txt

rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe FAQ
Maintained by Jim Smith-- jim@subreality.com
Compiled and edited Jim Smith
     http://welcome.to/racmu

rec.arts.comics.marvel.xbooks FAQ
Maintained by Kate "the Short" Hahn-- racmx@yahoo.com
Compiled and edited by Marty Blase, Jane Griffin, David R. Henry, and Kate
"the Short" Hahn
     http://www.enteract.com/~katew/faqs/racmxFAQ/

rec.arts.comics/rec.arts.comics.misc FAQ
Maintained by Carl Henderson-- carl.henderson@airmail.net
Compiled and edited by Carl Henderson, Francis Uy, Tom Galloway, and Paul 
Estin
     http://www.enteract.com/~katew/faqs/miscfaq.htm
     You are reading it right now!

rec.arts.comics.other-media FAQ
Maintained by Jim Smith-- jim@subreality.com
Compiled and edited Jim Smith
     http://www.sigma.net/tastee/faq/raco-m.html

rec.arts.comics.reviews FAQ 
Maintained by Kate "the Short" Hahn-- racmx@yahoo.com
Compiled and edited by Kate "the Short" Hahn 
     http://www.enteract.com/~katew/faqs/revwelc.htm

rec.arts.comics.strips FAQ
Maintained by Bebe Williams-- bebe@artcomic.com
Compiled and edited by Bebe Williams, et al.
     http://www.artcomic.com/faq.html

Besides the RAC newsgroup FAQs, there are a couple of other FAQs you should 
check out:

How to Make RAC* Work for You 
Maintained by Todd VerBeek-- VerBeek@bigfoot.com
Compiled and edited by Todd VerBeek
     http://www.enteract.com/~katew/faqs/racwork.htm

alt.comics.fandom FAQ 
Maintained by Kate "the Short" Hahn-- racmx@yahoo.com
Compiled and edited by Kate "the Short" Hahn
     http://www.enteract.com/~katew/faqs/fandom.htm

Some or all of these FAQs are collected/archived at several locations on the 
net, including:
     http://www.enteract.com/~katew/faqs/
     http://www.whiterose.org/dr.elmo/faq/index.html


1-13: WHERE DID ALL THESE FAQs AND RULES COME FROM? AND WHY SHOULD I PAY
ATTENTION?

The rec.arts.comics (RAC) newsgroups have been around an awfully long time.
They were created in the very early 80's under the name net.comics. The
rules were chosen by consensus and approved by a 2/3rds-majority vote. One
reason the RAC groups are successful is because most people here play by
the rules, and post to the correct group. 

The various RAC FAQs are the result of long hours of volunteer research and
writing by dozens of different people. We wrote FAQs both to help new
posters understand how the RAC groups work, and to provide answers to
Frequently Asked Questions. If you are interested learning about comics,
there are few better starting points these FAQs.


1-14: ARE COMIC FAN FICTION AND FAN ART ILLEGAL?

Fan fiction (fanfic) and fan art is technically illegal. By posting fan 
fiction or fan art to Usenet or the web, you are publishing a derivative work 
based on copyrighted stories, and illegally using trademarked names and 
images. Copyright law gives a copyright holder the exclusive right to 
authorize publication of derivative works based on copyrights he or she or it 
holds. Trademark law gives a trademark holder the exclusive right to use 
trademarked words and images in trade.  Under the law, even if you are not 
making any money off of your fan fiction or fan art, when you place it in a 
public forum (Usenet, web, public mailing list), you are publishing it, and 
are liable for civil and/or criminal penalties.

For this reason rec.arts.comics.creative's charter specifically excludes fan 
fiction. rec.arts.comics.creative is designed for comic-style works featuring 
ORIGINAL characters and situations. 

That's the law. Now in the real world, there are thousands of web sites, 
mailing lists, and newsgroups devoted to fan fiction and fan art. The owners 
of many intellectual properties tend to turn a blind eye to these activities. 
There are a variety of reasons for this: 

*  High costs (both in time and legal fees),
*  An unwillingness to tick off the hardcore fan base,
*  A perception by the copyright/trademark holders that such fiction and 
   art amounts to free advertising, 
*  The copyright/trademark holders don't want the validity of the rights 
   they are trying to enforce questioned in courts (sadly not uncommon in 
   the comic industry), and
*  The people making such decisions are fans themselves.

However, the fact remains that fan fiction and fan art ARE illegal, and that 
in all but the rarest cases, the legitimate holder of the 
copyrights/trademarks being infringed upon has the unquestioned right to stop 
them. So if you get a "cease and desist," recognize you are legally in the 
wrong, and don't go whining about it in all the newsgroups.

What about the "fair use" exception? The mainstream legal view--and the
view of the people who are likely to be hauling you into court--is that fan
fiction and fan art constitute infringing derivative works. But for another
perspective on fan fiction and the law, check out, "Using Law and Identity
to Script Cultural Production: Legal Fictions: Copyright, Fan Fiction, and
a New Common Law." In this LOYOLA OF LOS ANGELES ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL
article, lawyer Rebecca Tushnet outlines a legal case for fan fiction as
"fair use":
     http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/property/respect/fanfiction.html


15: WHAT ABOUT SCANS OF COMICS BOOK PAGES?

It is illegal to post or upload unauthorized scans of copyrighted art, even if 
no one makes money off of it. See Brad Templeton's "Ten Common Myths about 
Copyright" FAQ in news.announce.newusers, or on the web at:
     http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html


1-16: WHERE SHOULD I POST ABOUT WEB-COMICS?

It depends. Web-based comic strips (like "Helen: Sweetheart of the Internet" 
or "Sluggy Freelance" are on-topic on rec.arts.comics.strips. Web-based comic 
books (like "Megaton Man" or the features at StanLee.Net) are on-topic on 
rec.arts.comics.misc. Web-based comics that are first published in strip 
format, but are later collected into comic books, can be discussed on 
either--or both--newsgroups. 


1-17: CAN A COMIC BOOK CHARACTER BE COPYRIGHTED?

Sort of. Copyrights protect tangible expressions of ideas; not ideas
themselves. So while a character itself can't be copyrighted, stories that
contain that character can. So how can people talk about character
copyrights? 

They can because US copyright law gives the legal author or a work (whether
an individual, two or more collaborators, or a corporation--in the case of
work-for-hire) the sole power to control derivative works based on their
copyrighted works. Derivative works are simply works based on a previous
work, i.e., a sequel, a movie based on a novel, a game based on a comic
book universe, a statue based on a comic book, etc.

Since further stories based on a copyrighted comic book--using characters
from that comic--are derivative works of that original story, they must be
approved/licensed by the copyright holder, effectively creating a
"character copyright."

Also keep in mind that comic book characters may be protected as trademarks
under trademark law--a whole separate area of law. For more information on
this subject, check out the following essays by Lloyd L. Rich at publaw.com:

Protection of Graphic Characters 
     http://www.publaw.com/graphical.html

Protection of Fictional Characters 
     http://www.publaw.com/fiction.html


1-18:	WHAT IS A "HYPE:" POST, AND WHEN SHOULD I MAKE ONE?

Although--in general--ads on RAC newsgroups (except for RAC.marketplace)
are prohibited, there is one exception--"HYPE:" posts. The general
consensus of the RAC community is that HYPE: posts are not spam, as long as
they are:
1) properly labeled with the "HYPE:" keyword, 
2) posted by--or on behalf of--one of the creators of the comic being 
   promoted, and
3) intended as general promotion for a comic ("HYPE:" posts may not be used 
   for selling individual copies of such comics. Posts directly offering 
   comics for sale--whether by one of the creators of the comic or not--are 
   restricted to RAC.marketplace), 
4) not posted in excess (no more than a few posts for any specific
   project), and
5) the comic being hyped is otherwise on-topic for the group(s) it is being 
   promoted in.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
J. Carl Henderson
carl.henderson@airmail.net

Intro: Introduction / Revision History
Contents: Table of Contents/Acknowledgements
Part 1: The RAC Newsgroups and Posting to Them
Part 2: Comics News and Commentary on the Net
Part 3: Inside the Comic Book Industry
Part 4: Comics Industry Contact Information
Part 5: Comic Book Professionals--And How to Become One
Part 6: Misc. Comic Book Questions
Part 7: Whatever Happened to ___________?
Part 8: RAC Newsgroup Charters

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