Let's talk about Harry Potter

[u/AMVilla86]

… and other problematic IP

Hi folks,

We need your input. The mods have been discussing for a bit now about crafts with complicated Intellectual Property creators. Occasionally a craft will receive reports due to the theme of the craft and not about crafting itself. While we try to be as open-minded as possible, and we follow sitewide rules (such as no hate speech targeting identity or vulnerability, etc), there is still some nuance with moderating these types of posts. These posts have raised many questions, but we realized we needed to ask the community what they thought. If the community is uncomfortable with something, we want to know and be sure to moderate appropriately.

Some of the ideas we had so far, and why they would be tough to implement:

- Ban specific IP→ Where do we draw the line of what is and isn’t allowed?

- Create specific flair for ‘problematic’ → again, where is the line drawn?

- When a post receives enough reports about the theme and not the craft, leave a high-level moderator comment explaining how to block a user and/or hide a post → might be ignoring a problem rather than solving the issue for the sub.

With that being said, there’s only so much we can police. We want crafters to feel welcome, but with all the moderating we do, it would be hard to add on a layer of “educate a crafter on why the creator of this IP is bad” on top of our normal roles. We also don’t want our subreddit to become a lightning rod for debate. Ultimately, we are a crafts subreddit. While a few comments about inspiration of a craft is allowed, and questioning of said inspiration is also welcome, once we're many comments deep in multiple comment threads with no mention of crafting, it is no longer an appropriate conversation for r/crafts. There are many other subreddits for discussion and debate where you can converse.

So, what do you all think we should do with these types of posts? If we receive a large variety of ideas, we'll put it together in a survey or poll to further gauge how the subreddit feels. Also, feel free to message the mods if you're uncomfortable commenting on the post.

[u/Calm-Counter7510]

I am very against HP and definitely roll my eyes when I see anyone "celebrating" it through merch etc, since a cut of that goes into JKRs pocket. However, crafting something is actually not giving any money to JKR, so is I guess is one of the most harmless HP related things someone could do?

That aside - I don't think the mods should be trying to ban/police posts making crafts in relation to specific problematic fandoms. That would feel very weird and I could also see it going downhill very quickly. 

I think the high level moderator comment idea would make the most sense. Aa a casual browser of this sub, and one who does have strong political views at that, I don't think much past that is needed? Its a crafts sub, about making crafts. Policing the subject matter of a craft seems really unnecessary

[u/Due_Leadership_5249 → u/Calm-Counter7510]

Whole heartedly agree with this. I saw the "Someone using Harry Potter Print fabric to create something where money ..." example above, and if you want to be that nit-picky about it, then why stop at Harry Potter printed fabric? What about the fabric itself? Where was it sourced and made? What were the ages and working conditions of employees? Someone's Nike shoe in the shot? uh oh...

There's no end to it. Yeah, Rowling is an awful human being in my opinion. You don't have to like, look at, or interact with that craft or the person posting it - that's a personal decision you can make. Just keep scrolling.

Mod sticky for sure

[u/obtusewisdom → u/Due_Leadership_5249]

This reminds me of The Good Place, when they were trying to figure out how to live without harm and ended up realizing the complexity of interwoven ethics.

Crafting something doesn’t put money in JKR’s pockets to do evil deeds. If someone finds joy in it, great. If someone doesn’t like even seeing it, scroll past. It doesn’t necessitate extra modding or, frankly, long lectures (though that will inevitably happen).

FWIW I asked a couple trans friends, and their response was, “Bro, I got bigger fish to fry than someone’s homemade mittens.”