Should readers get permission to make podfic?

[jesse_the_k]

While I just argued that the act of podficcing adds "fannish value" to a work, I'm unsure that readers must obtain an OK from the writer to make a recording.

Since I'm a newbie, I did some research. While I don't think it's possible for a podfic to fundamentally change a source in the same way, I started with remixes, since there's the same "permission" issue there. It seems most remix challenges are based on a mutual remix: by participating in writing, each fan also permits their work to be remixed (with one "safe" work held inviolate).

The Fanlore Wiki told me:

 begin quote 
Though remixing in both fanfiction and vidding has become enormously popular, not all fans embrace the concept. [... snip ...] Though some fans feel any story is fair game for remixing, others believe that permission should be gained from the author first before using their work as a jumping-off point. Many fans feel it's hypocritical to reuse the original creations of the copyright holders in the canon while protesting that anyone should be allowed to remake their fanworks.
 quote ends 

Current metadata don't state whether the podfic's reader has the writer's permission. Would the absence, permission or refusal of writer's OK change how you'd choose or read podfics?

Comments

Thanks for due consideration

[jesse_the_k]

That wasn't tl;dr at all. It's the kind of exploration I hoped this thread could evince.

More experienced minds than mine have contemplated the ethics of cache-mining. (And I'd love to get pointed to them.)

In the abstract, I can respect someone's decision to pull it off the net. If it's not currently served, then taking it from the cache is "sneaky," and undermining their decision.

OTOH, I've stumbled on things I've forgotten I created on my very own hard-drive. It's easy to lose track of all the ideas and efforts that have burbled out of me along the years. So does benign neglect mean implicit permission?

And on the important third hand, I enjoy fanfic precisely because it serves my id-driven "must! have! fic!" needs. When I'm in that frame of mind, it's hard to discriminate between "sneaking around TPTB" and "sneaking around a fanfic author." (Not advocating, mind you, just reporting.)