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The Site => Site Suggestions & Support => Topic started by: Sway on May 27, 2006, 01:06:44 PM
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So she's new and already starting with the questions.. I'm sorry ;)
I was just wondering if it was possible to have, say, a fanworks section?
I know there are a bunch of people who do fanarts and such. And I've started working on fanfiction.
Well. that's it ;)
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AVERT YOUR EYES, JIM!
On the original McAnally's rules, it states that you can't post fanfic anywhere that Jim might see it, or even let Jim know that it's being written. Otherwise, he's obliged to get litigious, and that's not fun for anyone. It's a bit of a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. I think it's a great idea to have a section for fanart, but I'm at a loss for how you could share your fanfic (I know I'd be interested in reading it!) without it getting to Jim. I'm fairly sure that he doesn't read the Dresden Files LiveJournal (http://community.livejournal.com/dresden_files/), if that helps. Or maybe you could try posting at The Pit of Voles (http://www.fanfiction.net/), where even the bravest fear to tread?
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Thanks for letting me know.
Though I never though that writing fanfiction is actually illegal. Or at least, it sounds like it. I mean, I've been writing for BtVS for quite some time and nobody every said a peep. But who am I to argue. I don't want to get sued.... ;)
I have already posted over at LJ. And I was in fact aiming to post it on the Dresden Files sites I'm putting together as I write this..
Well then... I'll keep it hidden ;)
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i don't know about the illegal part but the problem with an author reading a fan's work is that they might actually copy a plot or story line from you without them realising they've done it. so you can see the problem for them if they publish a book with someone else's idea, they could get hit by a lot of legal issues from an irate fan who say's they've pinched their ideas. so obviously for the author that's bad bad bad, hence no fan writing!
hope that makes the situation a little clearer for you sway!
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Yeah well.. it's getting clearer and I seem to be to only klutz out there who didn't know. I mean, I get the point but...
There are so many archive sites and such and their content is illegal. That's just confusing me. I mean.. I get that it would pull a big I-sue-you-cause-you-stole-and-I-sue-you-back-cause-you-stole-from-me-first thing but still...
I have just discussed this with some people over on my LJ. Apparently, we were all lucky 'cause Joss Whedon is a friend of fanfic supports it.
Oh well.. I'll stop pondering and post my writing in a secure place then ;)
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The policies are different for every fandom, but it more or less boils down to what Rages said. Though according to the old McAnally's rules (are they still online anywhere? The Wayback Machine is being buggy), I don't think it would be an issue putting your fic on a personal site as long as you don't advertise it anywhere Jim frequents.
Mods, please correct me if I'm wrong in my assumptions. After all, when you make an assumption, you could make an ass out of yourself, and the "ump" will "shun" you. :D
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I guess I can live with that. I doubt that he'll frequent his own fansite ;)
And if I'm asked to take my stuff down, so be it. I don't wanna get sued ;)
Thanks for letting me know, though. :D
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Yeah, the fanfiction stuff is pretty simple: if Jim knows about it, he has to do something about it. He's legally responsible to do something about it, because to fail to do that, would mean that he's giving up what is, essentially, his trademark, to stuff that he's created. He can't fail to do that. So on anything we know Jim to frequent, he can't be exposed to it.
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Yeah, I get that.
Apparently, it's different for each fandom. Not the legality-part but what I've heard just now is that e.g. Joss Whedon encourages fanfiction.
But hey.. I kinda understand that though I wasn't aware of it to that extend. As I said.. I'll do it quite-like and when I'm asked to take it down, I will. There are only a few people who will visit me in prison if I get sued ;)
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Yeah, the fanfiction stuff is pretty simple: if Jim knows about it, he has to do something about it. He's legally responsible to do something about it, because to fail to do that, would mean that he's giving up what is, essentially, his trademark, to stuff that he's created. He can't fail to do that. So on anything we know Jim to frequent, he can't be exposed to it.
Which brings up an interesting question about the MUSH being created off his works. Hrm. *
*An honest Hrm. No implied snarkiness.
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I don't think a MUSH qualifies as "publication", and I do think that one has already asked for Jim's blessing, and gotten it.
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*nods* She has (gotten his blessing). I was just curious as to the legal ramifications. I know Zelazny and Brust gave permissions for the MUSHes based off their works, but I also know lawyers came in and harrassed Amber's wizards regarding the use of another author's characters in Amber*, so I was curious.
I want SemiAutoMagicMUSH to do well, with no problems. ;)
*For those of you who don't know Amber, it's a universe in which anything exists in infinate shadows (aka dimensions), so the works of other authors would exist out there somewhere. On AmberMUSH (a real-time text-based online rpg), some players brought other characters from other authors into the game. One author's lawyers took exception to this.
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Most authors don't mush so stand little chance of seeing what's done there. :)
I'm doing my best to skirt around most issues by moving the game to a new city entirely and under no circumstances allowing canon characters.
A lot of authors don't want MUSHes for their works for all sorts of copyright violation issues or general 'it's my sandbox get your ownness.' Others welcome them so long as you get and ok and post up copyright news files. The first news file I put in clearly said that all things Dresdenverse are copyrighted to Jim and all things FATE to Evil Hat.
While this may not hold legal value, it's good enough for most authors when it comes to allowing a game to run. I'm lucky since Jim's a gamer himself and I didn't have to explain what a MUSH is before getting his ok. :)
It is something of a grey area I think as it's playing in his world without his characters in it. It all comes down, in these cases, to the author and their lawyers.
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I write BtVS fanficton, too, and never heard that it was illegal. I always put disclaimers on mine. Anyway, I think it would be hard writing something about Harry and the others. I mean in first person like Butcher does. ;) Once you do that then they lose their " life " as it were. They're not the same.
Carol
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I think the difference with Buffy/Xena/Marvel Comics/DC Comics/etc. is that all of those are already shared worlds. Both TV and the big print comics have multiple writers--tv is, in fact, required to hire freelance writers I think. So it'd be stupid for those mediums to pester fanfiction writers, since those fanfic writers will grow up to be the next generation of scriptwriters and the like for those mediums.
Book fandom, however, is different. It's not collaborative in most cases. Therefore, hush on the fanfic.
Or at least, this is how I read it.
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We've had this problem on my forums with Harry Potter fanfiction. I actually took legal advice and had to make some guarantees concerning how the fiction would be used and such. Pain in the neck, really. I'd not bother with it at all but telling an HP fan to stop writing fanfiction is like telling Mel Gibson to stick to non-alcoholic beer.
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fanfiction.net has a Dresden Files section.
I undestand the legal aspects that there are some blood-suckers out there that are going to jump all over the author just for money or just to mess with them, and there are some authors out there that are just picky about that kind of thing. Nora Roberts for example.
But let me get this straight. Jim can't even acknowledge it exists? No. I don't mean posting or leaving a review or anything. I mean like he has to pretend the fanfiction doesn't exist?
Okay, I'm sure that also didn't convey what I'm thinking.
So he can't acknowledge it's out there. Like he can't make a statement about how he feels about people writing in his universe because as far as he's concerned it can't exist otherwise he'll get sued?
Really...I'm not an airhead, just confused.
~She-Wolf
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How's this for a lousy analogy?
I've heard of giant squids. People have told me that they're out there. I however have never seen one in person (in squid?), so I can't truly know that they exist.
Never mind; that really was lousy.
The legality lies in the fact that fanfiction makes use of an author's intellectual property. To use Jim's characters, settings, and so forth could therefore be seen as a sort of plagiarism. If an author visits a fanfiction site and doesn't push to have references to his or work removed, the site's owner could say that the author has tacitly endorsed the site.
And as others have stated, suppose I write a story in which Harry does X. Suppose Jim in a future novel has Harry do X, or an X-like thing. I then get all irate and sue Jim for stealing my idea. Jim's best argument against that is that he's never been to the site where I posted my story.
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Things like that are why I'm much more suited for medicine than law...
But yeah, I see the point. Why the heck to people have to be so fricken trigger happy when it comes to sueing somebody else? They know that by writing fanfiction it's barely legal as it is so why sue for something that wasn't their's to begin with?
Yeah, money. I know. Still bugs me :(
~She-Wolf
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I know we can't do a fanfiction fanworks section, but would fanart section work? I draw fanart and a few other people on the board do as well. Would it be possible to have a place to post art and icons that people make?
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Seconded! We want a fanart section! *clammors, but politely and with respect to the busy moderators*
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(Just popping in to say that I think the only one that can create new sections is the owner, Iago, who's running around trying to get the RPG and Spirit of the Century off the ground...so don't lose hope just because you don't hear anything for a while.)
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(Just popping in to say that I think the only one that can create new sections is the owner, Iago, who's running around trying to get the RPG and Spirit of the Century off the ground...so don't lose hope just because you don't hear anything for a while.)
Gotcha. Thanks for the update!
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I must confess that the idea of fanfiction puzzles me. It seems to me to show an abysmal lack of creativity to want to get some kind of adulation on what is essentially the theft of someone else's ideas and characters.
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I must confess that the idea of fanfiction puzzles me. It seems to me to show an abysmal lack of creativity to want to get some kind of adulation on what is essentially the theft of someone else's ideas and characters.
Um...I don't like being called uncreative. I've done some crazily creative things that had never been done before in that fandom.
Just because I use somebody elses characters to portray those ideas doesn't mean I'm stupid or incapable, it's just what I like doing at this point and it's what I'm good at at this point.
And it isn't theft. It's playing around in somebody elses world. I'm not making money and I'm definatly not in it to sue.
~She-Wolf
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I must confess that the idea of fanfiction puzzles me. It seems to me to show an abysmal lack of creativity to want to get some kind of adulation on what is essentially the theft of someone else's ideas and characters.
Well, they do say that "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."
Seriously, I've read a lot of fan fiction over the years...and some of it has been *very* creative (maybe a bit too creative, slash fic, ugh!)
In any event, as I see it, it's the original author's call...if he/she doesn't mind people playing in their universe (while not getting paid), then I have no problem with it. Afterall, some day, the original author may want to do a "contributed anthology" in his/her world...and if enough fans are interested enough in the mythos to want write their own stories in it, they'll also buy books edited by the original author for that purpose.
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Seems to me it's about protecting the copy right. By protecting copy rights, I mean the characters/places/etc contained in the books which would likely be mirrored in fanfics. Xerox and Kleenex are no longer copy right held terms because they became such a part of the commonly used language. Google will be next if it's keeps being used as a verb. Most copy right holders have to pursue any infraction to their copy right or face loosing the "value" of the copy right if they don't do it enough times. By ignoring the fact that fanfics exist, an author protects his intellectual property rights and doesn't have to worry about the future litigation of the fanfic writers who could theoretically limit the amount of plot choices available to him/her.
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Regardless, for this site, the matter's not up for discussion. We're not going to do a fanwork section. Those sorts of things are better done on fan sites rather than official ones.
That being the case, I'm gonna close this thread. :)