See, I always thought they were silly myself, which is why I've never put them on my stories. I was thinking of posting a general one on the profle though, sort of a "just in case". I've never heard of anyone suing over fanfiction, though.
I've always had a disclaimer as part of my standard header. I'm a big fan of the full header to give your readers the best intro to your work. This is my Jossverse standard, which I just alter if I'm trying on a new fandom: Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over these characters. I am merely borrowing them from Joss et al.
I use them, but mainly because I wanna be on the safe side. After being sued for using a picture from the internet to post in a private forum, I'm kind of paranoid.
I put disclaimers b/c I'm a lawyer and it is in my blood to put unnecessary wording on the page. :-) Having said that, the copyright laws in the US are tough and it is possible to fall foul of such laws even if you don't profit from it. So I put them on just in case.
Put another way, I understand in the US that copyright extends to protecting original characters, as well as the story of the show/book. So technically, all fanfic transgresses this. There is a 'fair use' exception in IP law that allows you do use protected IP where there is fair use - eg. photocopying articles for discussion in class. But fanfic is not as clear cut as that so I put in that I don't profit from the work. But technically that isn't needed to establish breach of copyright - any profit will just go to damages that you could be sued for (highly unlikely).
You lost me somewere around "copyright laws". And you've also stoked my paranoia, which is where my question came from. I don't want to get sued...so maybe yes I am going to put a disclaimer on my fanfic, or at least in a prominent place on my fic!comm.
Sorry for stoking paranoia, but it's better to be safe than sorry!
From what I hear, some authors/creators have warned fanfic authors of copyright breaches by sending a 'cease and desist' letter first (to withdraw the fic from the website). Litigation is costly and most people do not want to enter it unncessarily. In other cases the author/creator will make it known that fanfic in general is not appreciated - a warning to anyone who may want to indulge in fanfic! I think an example of this is the Vampire Chronicles fandom - it is well known that Anne Rice detests fic and does not tolerate it at all, which is a pity.
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Also, that's crazy. Was it a huge fine?
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Put another way, I understand in the US that copyright extends to protecting original characters, as well as the story of the show/book. So technically, all fanfic transgresses this. There is a 'fair use' exception in IP law that allows you do use protected IP where there is fair use - eg. photocopying articles for discussion in class. But fanfic is not as clear cut as that so I put in that I don't profit from the work. But technically that isn't needed to establish breach of copyright - any profit will just go to damages that you could be sued for (highly unlikely).
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From what I hear, some authors/creators have warned fanfic authors of copyright breaches by sending a 'cease and desist' letter first (to withdraw the fic from the website). Litigation is costly and most people do not want to enter it unncessarily. In other cases the author/creator will make it known that fanfic in general is not appreciated - a warning to anyone who may want to indulge in fanfic! I think an example of this is the Vampire Chronicles fandom - it is well known that Anne Rice detests fic and does not tolerate it at all, which is a pity.
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