My position on so-called "fan fiction" is pretty well known. I'm against it, for a variety of reasons that I've stated previously more than once. I won't repeat 'em here
( Read more... )
Personally, I love the stance Charlie Stross has on fan fiction:
"I do not mind you writing fanfic using my characters and sharing it with your friends unless you do so in a manner that f**s with my ability to earn a living. . . . I am not a precious sparkly unicorn who is obsessed with the purity of his characters - rather, I am a glittery and avaricious dragon who is jealous of his steaming pile of gold. If you do not steal the dragon's gold, the dragon will leave you alone. Offer to bring the dragon more gold and the dragon will be your friend.As well, JK Rowling, of course, who said that as long young people are encouraged to write, she's happy, though, of course, as long as they don't try to make money off it
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I'm not so sure about the illegality of fanfics. Fanfics use the "world" an author created, which is a concept, an idea. However, copyright law is not supposed to apply to ideas, only to the words themselves. Unusual names however, you might be able to defend infringement on the copyright and as trademarks.
As for Marion Zimmer Bradley, her failure might have been to be actively reading the facfics. In copyright law, you have to prove that the "copy" is indeed a copy and not only someone arriving at the same result in a completely separate process. ie: if you write something and it never leaves your computer, you can't sue someone who used the exact same words as they would not have been able to copy your work in the first place.
They use the worlds and of characters, generally. Either way, this makes them a derivative of the original product. At Chilling Effects, their section on fan fiction has this:
" The owner also can stop someone from (5) creating "derivative works". A derivative work is a new work based on someone else's intellectual property. A sequel to a movie, Rocky IX for example, is a derivative work."
There's an argument that fan fiction is "transformative" and therefore can fall under a fair use exemption, but I myself am fairly dubious about this.
BTW, the selection of Rocky in the above quote is not coincidence. Sylvester Stallone successfully sued someone who wrote a proposed Rocky sequel without permission. The court found sufficiently developed characters in and of themselves are afforded copyright protection.
I tend to agree with Diana on most of her points, and while I've read one or two pieces of fanfic, it's never really held my attention. I'd rather have the originating author weave the stories for his/her characters.
At the end of the day it all comes down to respect. Which seems to get lost in the great big internet void. Some authors like fanfic - great. Enjoy turning their stuff into fanfic. Other authors don't like fanfic - respect it and don't do it.
It's really quite simple and it's just too bad that not everyone believes/understands that respect is important. It doesn't matter if you're dealing with your grandma or your favorite author/singer/etc or the waitress at your neighborhood diner, simple respect for others goes a long way.
"As well, JK Rowling, of course, who said that as long young people are encouraged to write, she's happy, though, of course, as long as they don't try to make money off it."
And look at where that lead her to... a court battle against the the owner of a site that decided to publish a Harry Potter encyclopaedia.
I was deeply involved in the HP fandom for several years and out of the dozens of friends and hundreds of friends of friends discussing the case across my f-list, I don't know a single fic writer who didn't side with Rowling during that trial. I'm sure some existed, but in general the fanfic community reacts very harshly against people who try to publish fanfiction or any other derivative works without the permission of the writer.
It's partly to protect our hobby, because every time something like that happens, a few more authors come out with anti-fanfic policies, but it's also true that the vast majority of ficcers value the gift economy fandom is based on and react badly to ANY attempt to profit off fanfiction. (Check out the Fanlib incident for a whole lot of very angry, articulate explanations about why.)
Unfortunately, that's not really an accurate comparison, because that had little to do with fan fiction.
When it comes to fantasy series, especially ones that create a completely different world, with its own terminology, geography, etc., most of them will have encyclopedias or references, on-line or in print. I know there are a billion Middle Earth and Narnia ones out there, not written by either Tolkien or Lewis. Of course, they're dead. It's a bit of a gray territory, especially with on-line ones.
It's not actually a copyright violation to make those online, for instance, in the same way it wouldn't be for me to publish an essay about Ice and Fire, because it is simply explaining and listing the concepts of the books. I know, for instance, that Ice and Fire series has plenty (I had to read the first book in first year university, and had to refer to on-line guides for certain concepts and characters because I didn't have time to read it as thoroughly as I did the second time. :)) Nor is it or can it be classified as "fan fiction
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Agreed, and a query: what about licensed role playing games?shiranaihoshiMay 8 2010, 09:58:42 UTC
It was very kind of you, midnight_birth, to type out something very similar to my own thoughts on the matter and save my fingers a little strain. I am firmly in the camp of "respect the writer's wishes, regardless of your own feelings
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"I do not mind you writing fanfic using my characters and sharing it with your friends unless you do so in a manner that f**s with my ability to earn a living. . . . I am not a precious sparkly unicorn who is obsessed with the purity of his characters - rather, I am a glittery and avaricious dragon who is jealous of his steaming pile of gold. If you do not steal the dragon's gold, the dragon will leave you alone. Offer to bring the dragon more gold and the dragon will be your friend.As well, JK Rowling, of course, who said that as long young people are encouraged to write, she's happy, though, of course, as long as they don't try to make money off it ( ... )
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As for Marion Zimmer Bradley, her failure might have been to be actively reading the facfics. In copyright law, you have to prove that the "copy" is indeed a copy and not only someone arriving at the same result in a completely separate process. ie: if you write something and it never leaves your computer, you can't sue someone who used the exact same words as they would not have been able to copy your work in the first place.
Reply
" The owner also can stop someone from (5) creating "derivative works". A derivative work is a new work based on someone else's intellectual property. A sequel to a movie, Rocky IX for example, is a derivative work."
There's an argument that fan fiction is "transformative" and therefore can fall under a fair use exemption, but I myself am fairly dubious about this.
BTW, the selection of Rocky in the above quote is not coincidence. Sylvester Stallone successfully sued someone who wrote a proposed Rocky sequel without permission. The court found sufficiently developed characters in and of themselves are afforded copyright protection.
Reply
At the end of the day it all comes down to respect. Which seems to get lost in the great big internet void.
Some authors like fanfic - great. Enjoy turning their stuff into fanfic.
Other authors don't like fanfic - respect it and don't do it.
It's really quite simple and it's just too bad that not everyone believes/understands that respect is important. It doesn't matter if you're dealing with your grandma or your favorite author/singer/etc or the waitress at your neighborhood diner, simple respect for others goes a long way.
Reply
And look at where that lead her to... a court battle against the the owner of a site that decided to publish a Harry Potter encyclopaedia.
Reply
It's partly to protect our hobby, because every time something like that happens, a few more authors come out with anti-fanfic policies, but it's also true that the vast majority of ficcers value the gift economy fandom is based on and react badly to ANY attempt to profit off fanfiction. (Check out the Fanlib incident for a whole lot of very angry, articulate explanations about why.)
Reply
When it comes to fantasy series, especially ones that create a completely different world, with its own terminology, geography, etc., most of them will have encyclopedias or references, on-line or in print. I know there are a billion Middle Earth and Narnia ones out there, not written by either Tolkien or Lewis. Of course, they're dead. It's a bit of a gray territory, especially with on-line ones.
It's not actually a copyright violation to make those online, for instance, in the same way it wouldn't be for me to publish an essay about Ice and Fire, because it is simply explaining and listing the concepts of the books. I know, for instance, that Ice and Fire series has plenty (I had to read the first book in first year university, and had to refer to on-line guides for certain concepts and characters because I didn't have time to read it as thoroughly as I did the second time. :)) Nor is it or can it be classified as "fan fiction ( ... )
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