[Fat1Fared]

Originally Posted by Darkdruandal

1) In your own words, what is "Abridging" and what does it entail?

=Abridging is traditionally the shortening of things like films, books and speeches without losing their meaning. This was often done for educational purposes as most curriculums were too packed to allow students to read several whole novels. The plan therefore was to give students shorten versions, which would hopefully give students an appreciation of the work and possibly even inspire them to read the whole story on their own.

-However, abridging in the sense referenced to here, as formed by people like Martin Billany, is actually more of a hybrid between parodying and abridging. This is because, while many fan-made abridges do attempt to maintain a sense of the original plot and feel, they are also interested in making humorous observations about whatever is being abridged, as well. As such, they are not just shortening the plot, they are adding their own touch to it as well. This form of parody abridging has also been done professionally, as can be seen by Robot Chicken's Star Wars and Family Guy's Star Wars episodes.

2) What are some "essesntial" aspects of the abridging genre? What makes an "Abridged Series" a true "Abridged Series"? What do you look for and enjoy when making/watching episodes?

For fan-made abridges, like Yu-Gi-Oh TAS and TeamFourStar, I feel two main things are important:

1=Loyalty to the original plot=As this is about abridging and parodying, I feel for the thing to show respect to the original material, it must in some manner follow the original plot.

2=Respectful humour=As these are fan-made shows it is important that the humour is based on witty observations, otherwise it runs of the risk of appearing to just be pop-culture references, glib toilet humour, or snide and mean-spirited remarks. Ironically, many professional parodies (like the Scary Movies) fall into this trap.

3) Do you think "Abridging" is, in fact, a new genre? If so, what seperates it from other genres? If it is not, why?

I would say that the acts of parodying and abridging have been around for a long time going back to things like Naked Gun parodies, but fan-made abridge parodies like these are a genre to themselves as now these are sentire by fans; a way for the fans to show their feelings for the original work, so to speak.

4) How do you feel about the copyright "issues" associated with abridging? Do they have legitimacy? Should someone be allowed to use another's material without their permission and in ways never intended?

Legally speaking, there is no answer to this question because most material is protected with contractual exclusion clauses that forbid public screenings of the work. This mean when we buy the DVD (or other form of medium) to obtain the material for the series, we agree not to post such material for public viewing. However, as abridging has generally alternated the material beyond recognition from its original state (with the loss of original audio being fundamental), it is hard to know whether these clauses still apply because one is no longer putting the material up for public viewing, instead they are using it for their own (free) work; this is especially problematic as most countries have statute protecting the rights to review and parody others' works.

That being said, if the owner of the work asks you not to use their material in such a manner, it is common decency to abide by their wishes.

On the other hand, it seems somewhat abrasive for creators to take such a heavy-handed approach to fans only trying to show an appreciation of their work.

5) What about merchandising? Should an abridged series maker be able to make money off of products that bear the likeness of characters they do not own?

Anyway, thank you all for your input and I hope you have a great day!

Here, the answer is simply, No.

Legally=Almost all images, such as that of Yu-Gi, are copyrighted and as such cannot be used by others as a way to make money. If an abridger wishes to use their completely original creations (such as any slogans they may have created) for profit, that is their choice, but they hold no legal claim to the images of the material and as such, cannot make a profit from it. (This applies even if the image is self-drawn or partly altered.)

Morality=Again, I would say no. Abridging in this form is about showing appreciation of another's work, and to use their work to make money, betrays that fundamental aspect of the genre. Furthermore, as the abridger did not create the image, it is not their's to make money from, even if they are editing. If we justify making money from editing the image, then we are only one step from justifying abridgers being allowed to make money from the abridging itself, which to my mind seems erroneous.