Elf Sternberg
Encyclopedia
Elf Mathieu Sternberg, born May 7, 1966, is the former keeper of the alt.sex
FAQ
. He is also the author of many erotic stories and articles on sexuality and sexual practices, and is considered one of the most notable and prolific online erotica authors.
Sternberg’s best known piece of writing is probably the erotic short story
“The Only Fair Game” http://www.pendorwright.com/other/html/The_Only_Fair_Game.html, which became famous/infamous for raising legal questions about fan fiction
. Its speculation about homosexual and BDSM
practices among Larry Niven
’s Kzinti got Sternberg a cease-and-desist
letter from Niven’s lawyers in an incident that to date remains notorious within the SF
fandom community. Elf Sternberg claims the story is covered under parody
protections; Larry Niven maintains that the story is a violation of copyright
, but has not pursued further legal action. Larry Niven
commented directly on this issue in a Slashdot
interview.
Elf is also the creator of The Journal Entries of Kennet R’yal Shardik, a long-running series of short erotica
featuring a massive body of work covering the fictional ringworld
Pendor
(The Pendorwright Projects), and the wide variety of humans, humanoid species, robot
s, and artificial intelligences that inhabit it.
He has been a regular poster on the Usenet groups alt.sex
, rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.sf.composition and alt.atheism
, and is listed on the Net.Legends FAQ.
Alt.sex
alt.sex is a Usenet newsgroup that was popular in the 1990s. An October 1993 survey by Brian Reid reported an estimated a worldwide readership of 3.3 millions for the newsgroup, that being 8% of the total Usenet readership, with 67% of all Usenet nodes carrying the group and traffic of 2,300...
FAQ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions are listed questions and answers, all supposed to be commonly asked in some context, and pertaining to a particular topic. "FAQ" is usually pronounced as an initialism rather than an acronym, but an acronym form does exist. Since the acronym FAQ originated in textual...
. He is also the author of many erotic stories and articles on sexuality and sexual practices, and is considered one of the most notable and prolific online erotica authors.
Sternberg’s best known piece of writing is probably the erotic short story
Erotic literature
Erotic literature comprises fictional and factual stories and accounts of human sexual relationships which have the power to or are intended to arouse the reader sexually. Such erotica takes the form of novels, short stories, poetry, true-life memoirs, and sex manuals...
“The Only Fair Game” http://www.pendorwright.com/other/html/The_Only_Fair_Game.html, which became famous/infamous for raising legal questions about fan fiction
Fan fiction
Fan fiction is a broadly-defined term for fan labor regarding stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator...
. Its speculation about homosexual and BDSM
BDSM
BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
practices among Larry Niven
Larry Niven
Laurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...
’s Kzinti got Sternberg a cease-and-desist
Cease and desist
A cease and desist is an order or request to halt an activity and not to take it up again later or else face legal action. The recipient of the cease-and-desist may be an individual or an organization....
letter from Niven’s lawyers in an incident that to date remains notorious within the SF
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
fandom community. Elf Sternberg claims the story is covered under parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
protections; Larry Niven maintains that the story is a violation of copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
, but has not pursued further legal action. Larry Niven
Larry Niven
Laurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...
commented directly on this issue in a Slashdot
Slashdot
Slashdot is a technology-related news website owned by Geeknet, Inc. The site, which bills itself as "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters", features user-submitted and ‑evaluated current affairs news stories about science- and technology-related topics. Each story has a comments section...
interview.
Elf is also the creator of The Journal Entries of Kennet R’yal Shardik, a long-running series of short erotica
Erotica
Erotica are works of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or sexually arousing descriptions...
featuring a massive body of work covering the fictional ringworld
Ringworld
Ringworld is a Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award-winning 1970 science fiction novel by Larry Niven, set in his Known Space universe and considered a classic of science fiction literature. It is followed by three sequels, and preceded by four prequels, and ties into numerous other books set in Known Space...
Pendor
Pendor
Pendor is a fictional ringworld from the Pendorwright stories written by Elf Sternberg. It rotates around a center star Pin, its day-night cycle simulated by a ring of shadow blocks rotating between Pendor and Pin, creating 292 day/night cycles per earth year...
(The Pendorwright Projects), and the wide variety of humans, humanoid species, robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
s, and artificial intelligences that inhabit it.
He has been a regular poster on the Usenet groups alt.sex
Alt.sex
alt.sex is a Usenet newsgroup that was popular in the 1990s. An October 1993 survey by Brian Reid reported an estimated a worldwide readership of 3.3 millions for the newsgroup, that being 8% of the total Usenet readership, with 67% of all Usenet nodes carrying the group and traffic of 2,300...
, rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.sf.composition and alt.atheism
Alt.atheism
alt.atheism is a Usenet newsgroup within the alt.*hierarchy that discusses atheism. A survey of usenet groups in 1994–1995 found that, among 70 groups discussing "consciousness, spirituality, and religion ", it was the group with the highest traffic volume...
, and is listed on the Net.Legends FAQ.