McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Fanfiction - Good or Evil?
Yeratel:
--- Quote from: Qualapec on May 28, 2007, 06:08:34 PM ---Why? That doesn't make any sense. Shouldn't it be the author's (the holder of the copyright) choice one what is or isn't a copyright violation of their work? Or at very least what they will or will not pursue? Especially in such a gray area as fanfic. In which it would be ridiculesly hard ass to go after said "violators".
Why would something like parody be okay when fanfic wouldn't? It seems parody does more damage to the original work than fanfic would. Fanfic could even bring new people into the fandom if the story is well written and somebody really likes it. That ends up giving more money to the copyright holder than parody, which could actively discourage people from giving their money to buy it.
~She-Wolf
--- End quote ---
Parody and satire are protected as free speech. You can write a parody Harry Dresden story, you just can't call your character "Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden", you'd have to make him something like "Barry Barnum Bozo Munich". Somebody else's characters are their characters, and some authors are more picky than others as to how much effort they're willing to put in to stomp out infringement.
I found the original thread related to this subject in the Site Suggestions board in the post explaining why there is not now and never will be a fan fiction area on Jim-Butcher.com. I notice you are the same person who was making these same arguments last year. Nothing has changed on the legal copyright front since then.
Yeratel:
--- Quote from: neurovore on May 28, 2007, 07:49:23 PM ---Original fiction made available for free by published authors has been shown to be good for sales in the same way that libraries and second-hand bookstores are. Charlie Stross has talked about this working for him at length. So has Cory Doctorow. So have several writers associated with the whole Baen Universe thing. There are people out there who will provide hard numbers for you on how once you have some level of name recognition as a published author, making stuff available for free boosts that recognition in hard sales figures. "The original story being worth exactly what was paid for it" is in some cases provably wrong.
--- End quote ---
Baen has been really ahead of the curve by putting so many of their older books, particularly earlier books in a series that are out of print, out on their website for free downloads.
Qualapec:
--- Quote from: Yeratel on June 02, 2007, 06:09:43 AM ---I notice you are the same person who was making these same arguments last year. Nothing has changed on the legal copyright front since then.
--- End quote ---
Nor have my opinions on the subject changed since then.
~She-Wolf
Guardian 452:
I mentioned this a few pages back, and will again here. For the most part fanfiction isn't really a bad thing (granted, a lot of the stories are bad, but that's not the point I'm going for here) and it seems that most of the copyright holders aren't that bothered. There are a couple of exceptions, and they generally have to do with people profiting over said fanfics.
This "Another Hope" business is a great example (thanks for posting the link!). Lucasfilm generally ignores (Hell, Lucas himself has been known to encourage) fanfics. It's all well and good, until someone starts charging money for them. Incidentally, there's a huge discussion on that aspect of fanfics relating to "Another Hope"...I'd encourage people to start looking it up on Google...well worth the time.
Most fanfics are allowed or at least generally ignored. There are exceptions. Again, I have issues when people go after the authors, as in the Anne McCaffrey case I mentioned a few pages back. As I said then, I don't have all the details. What apparently happened (most of this probably isn't available for legal reasons) is someone wrote a fanfic, I believe set in the Pern universe, that mirrored something that came out shortly thereafter in one of McCaffrey's novels. The fanfic writer then attempted to take legal action against McCaffrey for "stealing their story". As this was, most likely, a "what comes next" story I'd chalk it up to coincidence. As a result of the fallout, I do know that Anne McCaffrey now actively goes after anyone who puts their fanfics based on her work out where they can be seen!
I equally have problems with people posting things as their own copyright. The other situation I mentioned involved a woman writing Harry Potter fanfics. I read this story in a newspaper a few years back (can't remember where, with some digging you can most likely Google it if you're really interested). She posted a bunch of these things to her website, and each story started with a note saying that all characters and situations were the sole trademark and copyright of her...and she didn't actually create any new characters...just used the existing ones! In her case it was Warner Brothers who went after her, and with good reason. Consider how much they paid for those rights! Even if you aren't making money off of it (this woman wasn't), claiming ownership of someone else's work is just wrong.
While I don't know the story behind it, it seems that Anne Rice is also quite adamant that people not write fanfics based on her works...
Again I don't have a problem with fanfics per se...there is an established community out there. The problems occur when people abuse it. That abuse comes very close to people who try to sue the creators of a successful franchise when they see the money is there (A gentleman tried to sue George Lucas back in the eighties, claiming he created the Ewoks in a script he sent to Lucas...wanted all profits from Return of the Jedi as a result...and then there's the woman who occasionally claims she created The Matrix). Sadly, I think most people in that situation would have to take a "once bitten, twice shy" approach and come down hard on fanfic writers.
Let's face it...it only takes one person to ruin something for the rest of the world.
Keith
Courser:
I've been pretty quiet on this thread, other than my initial response.
I respect that some authors *really* don't want their character's co-opted for any reason. And I do honestly respect their wishes. PN Elrod, for one, has issues with it. They may be legal, they may be personal - doesn't matter to me. I wrote *one* fanfic for her series and, because of her wishes, it has never been seen by anyone but me. I wouldn't dream of putting it anywhere where anyone could see it. It doesn't matter to me, the joy was in the writing and I don't particularly care that I can't show it to anyone.
I find it a particularly bizarre turn that a fanfic author would attempt to sue an author over a fanfic story. I don't doubt that it's happened and I don't think that Anne McCaffery was the only victim. Personally, I don't care if a story I wrote (I write fic for Stargate SG-1) showed up verbatim on the show or in one of the tie-in novels. I wouldn't dream of bringing suit.
I have no delusions of any kind of ownership. Even if another fan took one of my stories and twisted it all out of shape, I don't feel I have any right to bitch. I might not be thrilled, but I'd get over it. And hell, I might even be flattered!
Fanfic itself is sort of a legal gray area. The best I can do is respect the creator's wishes, if they make them known. Most, though not all, fannish franchises sort of recognize that it doesn't diminish their stake so much as add value to it for fans. For legal reasons, they can't openly condone it, but many will not pursue legal remedies, either, unless someone gets really in their face about it. Most of us know better than that.
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