McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

Legal question of interest

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InfernoMDM:
Alright lets see if I can say this without confusing people.  This might be a bit difficult.

I am not writing anything, because I can't but here's the hypothetical because it fits the best.

Say someone wants to write in the Dresden Universe, and use the same elements concepts etc, while refraining from using Dresden Murphy etc etc.  Does that violate copywrites?  If yes then what doesn't?  Where does the ownership start stop etc?

SlimMason:
It is rare to be charged with plagerism, unless you copy and paste a novel.

The real problem is the audiance. If someone other than Jim Butcher writes a Jim Butcher story, the readers will be offended. Jim, and any writer, has some loyal fans. They will hurt you. Beware.

Kris_W:
In my opinion -

First: The US laws regarding plagiarism and fan fiction are vague and, when law is resorted to, tend to screw over both the original author and the fan author.  Second: Creating your own story universe is infinitely more satisfying in the long run. Yes, it’s insanely tiring, frustrating, and complex enough to cause week-long headaches, but still, more satisfying. Third: When writing in someone else’s world you are not learning the craft of writing. All you are seeing is the end product and trying to make something of it. It’s sort of like thinking that knitting a scarf will teach you how to raise sheep.

Yes, you can ‘file off the serial numbers’. But to do that suitably you need to move beyond filing and into the realm of sculpture.

Best of luck, whatever you decide.

AverageGuy:
If you're playing around in what's recognizably Butcher's universe, then you're violating copyright.  On the plus side, as long as you aren't an idiot and don't try publishing your fan fiction, you'll be more likely to get a cease and desist notice than get sued if you get caught.  C&D should be good enough to demonstrate that the author's protecting his/her intellectual property.  If you ignored that, they might take further action.

If you want to be a writer, as in eventually get published, there are a lot of authors who say it's better creatively to just make up your own universe.  If all you want is to write fanfic for your own amusement, well, just don't post it here.  Authors have to defend their copyright to make sure other people don't start selling, for instance, new Harry Dresden books, but writing stuff in your notebook shouldn't cause problems in that regard.

the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:

--- Quote from: SlimMason on September 28, 2008, 03:26:17 AM ---It is rare to be charged with plagerism, unless you copy and paste a novel.
The real problem is the audiance. If someone other than Jim Butcher writes a Jim Butcher story, the readers will be offended. Jim, and any writer, has some loyal fans. They will hurt you. Beware.

--- End quote ---

Writing with essentially the same elements and concepts is to my mind worth it if, and only if, you have something meaningful to say that's engaging with, or responding to, something about the original text.  As, for example, Donald Kingsbury's Psychohistorical Crisis is thinking through the consequences of how Asimov's Foundation universe works.  I'm also inclined to think Jim's universe would be a particularly bad one to want to do this with because of how tight the overall plot shape is, I really see very little in the books that does not serve the overall story, and without that particular overall story, messing around in that universe would be a bit directionless.

So, InfernoMDM, what do you intend to say that would make your books worth reading ?  What prevents them from being more-of-the-same-only-less-good ?

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