During last weekend’s Chicago Zine Festival, Quimby’s Bookstore awarded the 2nd annual Long Arm Stapler award to Jerianne, “for her tireless work as editor of Zine World and administrator for Zine Wiki,” and to Zine World:

“The classic review zine, Zine World is now on its 30th issue as a beacon and resource for independent publishing, putting zines and distros in touch with their audiences and vice versa. Zine World’s print edition is supplemented by an active Zine World website and blog, operated as a not-for-profit labor of love. Operated out of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Zine World is a testament to vibrancy of independent press in rural towns. Zine Wiki is an amazing wiki-format database of zinesters and zinedom and a welcome addition to archiving strategies for sharing/preserving/gathering information on homemade media that is often small run, often locally-distributed. Jerianne balances her involvement with promoting and participating in independent publishing with grad school, motherhood, and a day job as a librarian (let’s not forget that she helped start her library’s zine collection as well as all this other stuff!).”

We are quite honored to receive this award! Jerianne wishes to thank all of the volunteers who help make each issue of Zine World possible, and all of the zine publishers worldwide who inspire her to keep on keepin on. And: thank you to Alex Wrekk for accepting on our behalf (and for not being mad because we failed to give her a proper acceptance speech). Jerianne wishes she could have been there to accept in person.

The Long Arm Stapler Award is “an annual honor bestowed upon a group or individual dedicated to self-publishing and the First Amendment.” The inaugural award was given to the Queer Zine Archive Project (QZAP) in 2010.

You have about 10 more days to contribute to a compilation zine about sex being put out by the PPNNE (Planned Parenthood of North New England) Zine Project. You do not have to live in New England to submit, and stories that include references to Planned Parenthood will be given first priority. Submissions are due April 1.

Check out the submission guidelines and FAQs for more information. Also, there’s great advice for seasoned or noob zinesters in this blog post, aptly titled “There’s No Wrong Way to Make a Zine!”

True that.

One announcement from Amanda in Atlanta:

“Atlanta is starting a zine library and needs donations! Please contact Amanda at mandalin.mills@gmail.com. Any and all help appreciated. Send donations to 1088 North Ave. #4 Atlanta, GA 30306.”

Also, we’ll be updating our events page with lots of new upcoming events, so please check back soon!

This article is reprinted from Zine World #30.

Last fall, Thames & Hudson released a book called Fanzines. This oversize book is quite attractive, filled with large, full-color reproductions of covers of hundreds of zines from the UK, North America, and elsewhere. The 256-page book is the largest printed collection of zines I have seen, with more than 750 images making up the bulk of the book. Yet, when I received my complimentary copy in the mail–because Zine World was among the zines included–I could barely stand to look at it.

The reason for my animosity? Many of the reproduced images were included without permission, and the book contains a slew of errors.

The book’s author/editor, Teal Triggs, stated that she had obtained permission to reprint “the majority of images” included, but because of “personal circumstances,” she was unable to contact a number of zine publishers in advance to obtain their permission. Many of these publishers (including me) received an email from Triggs about two months before the book’s release, which informed them that she was including image(s) from their zines and/or screenshots from their website(s). My email read: “I hope this is okay. … I apologize for not contacting you sooner.” To others she wrote, “I hope [the book] will establish the importance of this form of self-publishing.” Interestingly, many of the publishers who received this email are either recent or still active zine publishers, including those with a current online presence–people who were easy to track down, in other words. The exact number of zines reprinted without permission is not known (although a handful of publishers have confirmed they were contacted in Spring 2010 or prior).

Triggs is a professor of graphic design at the University of the Arts London. She previously co-edited another book about zines (Below Critical Radar: Fanzines and Alternative Comics from 1976 to Now), has given talks about zines, and has a blog where she interviews zine publishers and creators of independent media. Initially, Triggs replied to the questions and complaints that zine publishers sent in response to her last-minute “hope this is ok” emails. But by early September, Triggs cut off communication. Thames & Hudson has ignored all requests for response or comment, both from Zine World and from other zine publishers. Although many contacted the publisher prior to the book’s release, our cries of foul were ignored. (A U.S. edition has also been released by Chronicle Books.)

There has been much debate at WeMakeZines and elsewhere about whether Triggs and Thames & Hudson violated copyright law by reprinting these images without proper permission, or whether they could claim fair use. I’m no legal expert, and what understanding I do have of copyright law and fair use–the practice that allows for certain exceptions to obtaining permission before reprinting a portion of a work–does not extend to how copyright is affected once you cross international borders. But I do know that, generally, when a book is produced that is going to include reprinted images (be they photographs, postcards, book covers, etc.), the publisher usually requires the book’s author to obtain all necessary permissions and copyright clearance in advance of publication. And I believe that Triggs’ reprinting these images without permission in a book produced for profit was absolutely unethical, at the very least.

Let’s say you were an avid collector of greeting cards, and that over the past two decades you had acquired a wide range of greeting cards in your collection: cards from 75 years ago to today, cards from the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and other countries. And let’s say you got the idea to share the wonders you had collected by putting together a book about greeting cards, showcasing your collection. I’m pretty sure that you couldn’t put together a book full of colored reproductions of those greeting card covers without getting reprint permission, in advance, from Hallmark, American Greetings, etc. Or that a publisher would print such a book without ensuring those permissions had been obtained.

What’s the difference? One, greeting cards have a blatant copyright statement. Most zines do not. However, any printed/published work should be treated as a copyrighted work–unless that work contains an anti-copyright or copy-left statement. Even so, some of the images reprinted in the Fanzines book were taken from zines that do have copyright statements–Zine World included. Two, greeting card companies have lawyers, and therefore to reprint their images without permission would be tantamount to inviting a lawsuit. Obviously the publisher doesn’t feel too threatened by us lowly zine publishers.

As a college professor, published author, and self-professed fan of zines, Triggs should have known better. Hell, she even makes reference to the 1st edition of Stolen Sharpie Revolution’s discussion of asking permission before reprinting from zines–the book partially quotes: “… consideration of copyright ‘if you are going to reprint something from another zine’” (p. 206). (The full statement she is quoting from reads: “If you are going to reprint something from another zine, ASK first and give credit to them, it is just good etiquette,” SSR p.7.)

One point that has been raised repeatedly in the debate at WeMakeZines is that zines often reprint images without regard to the image’s copyright or ownership. In fact, Zine World has begun including cover images and interior excerpts from some of the zines we review. I’m also a co-administrator of ZineWiki, where we encourage contributors to upload cover scans. I believe that Zine World’s usage of images is covered by fair use, because it is for the purposes of review; however, I do attempt to obtain permissions in advance, because it is the polite thing to do. As for ZineWiki, I also think it falls under fair use, because it’s a noncommercial activity for educational and research purposes. If a zine’s publisher asks, we will gladly remove the image. In both cases, the big distinction in what we are doing versus what Triggs did is that we are not profiting off someone else’s work. Triggs is not only (presumably) profiting financially from Fanzines’s publication, she could stand to gain academic credibility–unless attention is called to her actions.

Or, as Alex Wrekk put it on WeMakeZines: “After being involved with zines for over 15 years, I’m tired of people telling me that I should be thankful when something I created is used for profit without my permission, which has happened several times. I can totally understand that notoriety and larger distribution could be something other people might enjoy, but I just don’t. I would like that opinion to be respected. Part of my DIY ethic is that I want the control of my own distribution… I have a problem when someone misuses power and authority on the backs of others especially, in this case, where the book is supposed to be representative and celebratory of a specific community.”

One of the loudest critics of the book has been Amber Forrester, who publishes the zine Culture Slut and runs the Fight Boredom zine distro. One of her zines is included in the book, but it was credited under her old name, which she had legally changed some years ago. And that brings us to the second problem with Fanzines: It contains numerous inaccuracies and misrepresentations in the text. As Amber said in comments posted to WeMakeZines: “I’m actually super sad about my old name being printed. … I mean, say she was writing about punk zines from the 70s, that would be a different scenario because it would be very unlikely she’d find the creators (what with the nicknames being used and the Internet having not been around), but with recent zines, there’s really no excuse not to do a bit of research first and get into contact with the zinesters you’re writing about.” In her email response to Triggs, which she also posted on WMZ, she said “You’ve been able to contact me to tell me about the book, which means that you’d have just as easily been able to contact me to ask for permission in the first place. I would have given you my proper name … but even if you’d just Googled ‘Culture Slut,’ you’d see that six out of the ten results on the first page contain my real name and current contact info.” Although Amber did receive a reply from Triggs, it didn’t specifically address her criticisms.

An anonymous zinester has created a website called Fanzines by Teal Triggs, which is collecting information and criticisms about the book. The website includes a list of all zines featured in the book, with plans to add details about whether their images were used with or without permission. One section of the site will document the factual errors included in the book. Among the few listed so far: a zine made in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, is credited as having been made in Halifax, UK; some zines included have incorrect publication dates; and a Canadian TV show called Our Hero is described as American, although the Canada government logo is clearly visible in the image reproduced in the book (and elsewhere in the book it is identified as Canadian). Tobi Vail identified “blatant factual errors” and “thought the contextual framing was bizarrely off” in the chapter “Girl Power and Personal Politics 1990-1997.” As a musician and zinester who was among the founders of the riot grrrl movement, she should know. For example, the book credits Calvin Johnson (founder of K Records) and Bruce Pavitt (of SubPop) with organizing the International Pop Underground Convention; credit should have instead gone to Candice Pederson (of K Records), Vail says on her blog.

Other problems with the book relate to, as Vail said, the contextual framing. The most blatant example of this is in the chapter “E-zines 1998-2009.” This chapter conflates zines that started in print but moved to online publication, print zines that have a website (and/or blog), online resources about zines, and actual e-zines into one messy pile. The page devoted to Doris gets it right–presenting the blog as a supplement to the zine, and discussing how the “appealing illustration style” of the zine “is difficult to replicate with any warmth online.” On the other hand, Zine World’s page makes it sound as though we only exist currently online as a blog and credits Doug Holland as (still) being in charge of the zine. Note to Teal: the fact that our zine has a website to promote our zine, which happens to include a blog, doesn’t make us an e-zine. I find it totally kooky that zines such as Loserdom, Morgenmuffel, The East Village Inky, The La-La Theory, and Xerography Debt are all included in a chapter that “explores the way in which fan cultures embrace the realm of online publishing through e-zines” (p. 171). Even more so that within her introduction to this chapter, Triggs quotes librarian extraordinaire Jenna Freedman’s essay “Zines Are Not Blogs: A Not Unbiased Analysis,” which details the differences between zines and blogs. The essay ends with this comment by Dan Taylor, taken from a Zinegeeks Yahoo Group posting from 2005: “Interestingly enough I have a Hungover Gourmet zine and a Hungover Gourmet blog. And they couldn’t be more different. … Sad to think that somebody could blow off a movement with centuries of history behind it with one sentence.”

Sometimes Triggs does get it right. Chapter 1 (”A Do-It-Yourself Revolution: Definitions and Early Days”), in which she gives a summarized history of fanzines, as drawn from notable books and articles previously published on the topic, and presents an academic discussion of the design characteristics of fanzines, is pretty much spot on. So why am I sweating the errors and mischaracterizations? As Tobi Vail pointed out in her blog entry about the book: “I think there should be a way to contest ‘false information’ in published works. Because once it’s in a book, it’s a ‘fact.’ People will use this book as a source for further writing on the subject matter. … Because once something is in print, it becomes an authority.”

The Fanzines website calls for an errata sheet to be issued for Fanzines, including corrections to image credits and a disclosure that proper permissions were not secured for all images included in the book, as well as a formal apology from the publisher. Without the weight of a lawsuit, I’m not holding my breath for such action.

Triggs calls herself an avid collector of zines. She has stated, in her emails to zine publishers and in interviews, that she values zines and wants to recognize the importance of the form. Yet her actions–going ahead with the book when she had not obtained all permissions, poor research, and failing to fact check–suggest otherwise. The complete lack of reply from any representative of the publisher suggests they don’t see zines as an important form of media, either. It leaves me feeling that in the publisher’s eyes, our culture’s importance is only in being mined for their financial gain.

And that is why I’m mad about this book.

Jerianne is the editor & publisher of Zine World: A Reader’s Guide to the Underground Press and has been since founder Doug Holland stepped down in 2000. She’s also a librarian who recognizes the importance of documenting the history of subcultures but would like for it to be done properly.

Didn’t make it to Canzine? Here’s a glimpse at what you missed:

Check out this brief visual history of Riot Grrrl zines!

Did you hear about Molly Norris, Seattle cartoonist who was urged by the FBI to “disappear” after her tongue-in-cheek “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” placed her on an execution hitlist? Yeah, we missed the news, too (as King Wenclas noted).

Will Kindle Singles lead to a new wave of e-zines?

Need contributions for your zine? Looking for a zine to submit your art or writing to? Visit the Compilation Station.

One upcoming event to share. If you are in Brooklyn this weekend, check out the Birdsong Benefit Show and Party on Saturday. A few words from the hosts: “The Benefit show is both to help ease the cost of producing so many pretty little zines and broadsheets every year and to get our podcast series off the ground. Every six weeks we’ll produce a new ‘radio programme’ that consists of an interview with a local artist, a reading from a local writer, and live sort-of “Peel session” with a local band, all available for free on the new website (beginning in December).”

The show will be held at the Silent Barn, 915 Wyckoff Ave off the Halsey L stop. Doors open at 8pm, show starts at 9pm, $5-10 dollars sliding scale.

Is it too early to start thinking about New Year’s resolutions? Of course not! We’ve got one for you: 2011: The Revenge of Print

Here’s what Quimby’s has to say about it: “We’re throwing a challenge out there with some of our friends. If you’ve ever made a zine or mini comic MAKE ONE MORE ISSUE. Come on, you’ve got one more in you! Maybe you were thinking in the back of your head you’d do another issue one day. Now is the time.? ?Join the 2011: Revenge of Print Facebook group for discussion and more plans.”

Check out the following links for more info:
atomicbooksblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/revenge-of-print-2011.html
www.leekinginc.com/xeroxdebt/
www.undergroundpress.org

Did you hear? The US Postal Service was denied its request to increase first class postage. The Postal Regulatory Commission last week said that the USPS failed to justify the requested increase and failed to demonstrate that the global recession was responsible for the agency’s multibillion-dollar shortfalls. In response, the Postmaster General says that Congress needs to “alter frequency of delivery” (read: suspend Saturday delivery), “close unprofitable post offices,” allow the USPS to “create and offer products and services beyond mail,” and address health benefits, pension overfunding, labor union disputes, and other changes.

Oh, and we just noticed that we neglected to update our Postal Rate Chart when the Media Mail rate changed back in March (which means the Media Mail rate shown on the back of ZW #29 is incorrect). It’s fixed now, if you want to download it.

We’ve also made some updates to the resources at the end of our Zines 101 handout. If you are teaching a zine workshop, you can feel free to give this handout to participants, no need to ask permission, as long as the credit at the bottom stays intact.

We’ve all been pretty busy recovering from the summer, but we’ve finally had a chance to update our zine event listings. There’s still plenty of great events coming up before the end of the year, plus a couple that have already been announced for 2011.

Get your zine publishing tools ready for 2011: The Revenge of Print — “We are challenging everyone who’s ever made/self-published a zine, a comic or mini-comic before to dust off the ol’ photocopier and make at least one more new issue in 2011. If you are a creator and would like to sign/commit to the challenge, please let us know and we’ll add your name. If you are a bookstore, zine distro, etc. who would like to sponsor this, please let us known.” Current sponsors include Atomic Books and Quimby’s Bookstore. Are you up for the challenge?

A couple more takes on the Fanzines book:

“It is interesting that Zine World chose to use the word “appropriate” for the title of its article. As zinesters, we often appropriate images, words, and ideas from other (usually print) media. We often do so with no regard to source material.” Includes suggested guidelines for reprinting from zines. Read more…

“It’s too late to go back. Because I wasn’t alerted until the book had already gone to press, there is no way of having my zine properly credited. So here is what I want: I want every copy of the book Fanzines by Teal Triggs to come with an insert that states proper credits for both myself and anyone else who may have been mis-credited. It should also disclose the fact that proper permissions were not secured prior to publishing the book, and some copyrights were flouted. It should explain the reasons for this and include a formal apology. I also believe that those zine creators whose work is published in the book deserve a free copy.” Read more…

Incidentally, we’re still waiting for answers about how many zine images were not properly cleared for permission to reprint, and whether the publisher required the author to obtain permissions, and how the author/publisher would handle it if someone refused permission this late in the game. Guess we won’t hold our breath.

In about a month, Thames & Hudson (a UK publisher of art, architecture, and visual culture books) will release a new book called Fanzines. T&H describes it as “a high-impact visual presentation of the most interesting fanzines ever produced.” It features 500 (or more) illustrations (color and b&w) from sci-fi fanzines from the 1930s through currently published zines. A U.S. edition will be released by Chronicle Books in October.

Normally we might be cheering such a collection… except that the book’s author, Teal Triggs, did not get permission to use some cover images from recently published zines. Over the past two weeks, several people have commented on a thread at WeMakeZines about how they received an email from Triggs informing them that a cover image from their zine is being included in the book. (Zine World was among those receiving such an email.) Many who were contacted are upset that their zines’ covers are being appropriated in this manner; zine publishers who responded to the thread called Triggs’s actions “shady,” “disrespectful,” and “unprofessional.” We agree.

Triggs, “an avid collector of fanzines,” is a professor of graphic design at the University of the Arts London; she is the co-editor of a previous book about fanzines (Below Critical Radar: Fanzines and Alternative Comics from 1976 to Now). She also recently started a blog that shares interviews with zine publishers. In messages sent to Zine World and others who commented at WeMakeZines, Triggs said that “the majority of permissions were obtained well in advance” but “personal circumstances” led to delays in her contacting some of the zine publishers.

Triggs has offered apologies to the zine publishers who have responded to her last-minute notification emails, but hasn’t been forthcoming when asked direct questions about the project. Several noted that Triggs didn’t respond to their emails or didn’t address specific points/questions/complaints that they raised. In our email exchanges with Triggs, ZW asked how many images included in the book were being reprinted without permission. We asked whether the publisher had required clearance or permission for zine images to be included. We asked what she would do if one of the zine publishers she had contacted in the past two weeks did not want her/his image included in the book. None of these questions have been answered, as of yet, by either Triggs or a representative of Thames & Hudson. We also called her attention to the copyright notice included in Zine World #19, one of the covers she is including in the book, and asked if she read it. This notice states that publications with paid staff are expected to ask first before reprinting content from our zine. No response.

In many of her form letter emails, Triggs said that she hopes the book “will establish the importance of this form of self-publishing.” Instead, she has slighted the very self-publishers whose work she has drawn from to form the foundation of her book. Her approach of take first, ask for forgiveness later — whatever “personal circumstances” caused the situation — is a poor way to treat the very people who should be most excited by and supportive of her book. In fact most of the WMZ responses indicated they would have been happy to have their images included — if they had been asked for permission in advance.

To celebrate the release of the book, London College of Communication and Thames & Hudson are curating a “special pop-up reading room” at the college on September 20. Normally, we would share details of such an event, to encourage zine publishers to become involved by submitting their zine or attending. In this case, we say: don’t bother. If you want to support the college’s zine archive, by all means donate directly to the archive after the event is over.

As for the book itself, we are trying to reserve judgment until we can see the work in total or receive more detailed responses to the questions we have asked. Still, it’s hard to be excited when it seems like zinesters’ efforts are being co-opted, again, by academics and commercial publishers for their profit and personal gain. How will Triggs set things right? So far, her responses — “I am trying to rectify this situation by contacting as many before publication as I can. I certainly realise this is less than satisfactory. All I can do is apologise profusely.” and “I have taken all comments seriously and on board … All I can do is genuinely offer up my apologies.” — seem inadequate.

So Portland is officially the zine capitol of the U.S. The Portland mayor issued a proclamation in recognition of the upcoming 10th annual Portland Zine Symposium.

You can read the text of the proclamation here.

Another interesting video clip:

Gretchen Wagner, an assistant curator in MOMA’s Department of Prints and Illustrated Books, talks about the essay she wrote for the publication Modern Women: Women Artists at The Museum of Modern Art, titled “Riot on the Page: Thirty Years of Zines by Women.” Find out more…

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