Some writers have said that they wrote fanfiction before it was published, or that they are pro-fanfiction. Naomi Novik mentioned writing fanfics for TV series and movies,[61] and said she would be thrilled to know that fans would write fanfics for her series (although she also said she would be careful not to read anything); Anne McCaffrey allowed fanfiction but had a rules page[62] that she expected from her fans; Anne Harris said, “I live for the day my characters are cut”; [63] Tamora Pierce stated on her website that she has started writing Lord of the Rings and Star Trek fanfiction and that she has no problem with fanfiction based on her works, as long as they are non-profit. Author Cassandra Clare was a popular author of Harry Potter fanfiction before publishing her first novel. That year, a group of fans involved in creating fan works and part of the wider fan base formed the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW). [37] The OTW has since defended the legitimacy of fanfiction because of its transformative nature. The OTW`s position is that fanfiction and other fanwork products constitute fair dealing with copyright under 17 U.S.C. § 107 because they add “new meaning and message” to the original work,[38] and thus fall within the U.S. copyright exception defined by the Supreme Court in Campbell[39] and later revisited and followed at Suntrust. [40] The OTW`s vision is that “all fan works will be recognized as legal and transformative, and. accepted as a legitimate creative activity.” [41] To this end, the OTW works to educate fan authors and published authors about copyright laws, particularly open legal issues surrounding fan fiction and other fan works. Some stories are less than a hundred words, while others can be as long as novels.

There are many websites where you can publish and read fanfiction, including Fanfiction.net, ArchiveOfOurOwn.org, and LiveJournal.com, to name a few. Other fanfiction writers are interested in speculating about “what if.” They want to take into account the conditions and try to restructure the image of the original author. They look at things like, what would have happened if this action hadn`t happened. What if it happened differently? They want to make assumptions about what might have happened if certain situations were different and certain conditions were different from what the original author had imagined. Many writers and producers state that they do not read fanfiction for fear of being accused of stealing a fan`s ideas, but always encourage their creation. For example, when Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired, creator Joss Whedon encouraged fans to read fanfiction during the show`s time slot. Fair use is assessed on a case-by-case basis. While there are no clear rules, genres such as parody and criticism of law and jurisprudence are listed as presumed fair uses. There is no case law that deals directly with fair dealing fanfiction. [10] Fanfiction works are more likely to be fair uses if they are “transformative” for the original work, if they are non-commercial, if they appropriate relatively little of the original work, and/or if they do not tend to harm the potential market or value of the original work.

[9] “Different places have different laws on the subjects that are legally permissible to include in a publicly accessible work,” Rosenblatt explains. “These laws can be different from what people think is acceptable: different people have very different views on what is acceptable, whether it`s legal or otherwise.” The Brat Queen, as it was called in the early days of the Internet, helped build the archive and website dedicated to Anne Rice and her work on Usenet and then GeoCities. The site also contained some of the first internet fanfiction based on Rice`s novels, mostly speculative in nature, and wondered what would happen in future books. Many countries and some U.S. states have laws that govern the right to publish. In the United States, publishing rights are governed by state and common state law, and therefore vary from state to state. In general, the right of publication grants famous people the right to control the commercial use of their “name, likeness and likeness”[28] and sometimes extends to the broader identity or personality. White v. Samsung provides an example of the right to publicity that protects a celebrity`s personality even if their name and image have not been used: Samsung created an ad that showed a robot with a blonde wig and red dress in a pose reminiscent of Vanna White`s work on Wheel of Fortune.

White prevailed under California law with the theory that Samsung, although it did not use his name or image, used a recognizable representation of his personality without permission for his commercial gain. [29] Celebrities whose names, images, likenesses or characters are used in real people have the right to make claims against fanfiction authors on the basis of personality rights. Expedition: This is a situation where fans are looking for the romantic couple of certain characters. Usually there is already some kind of attraction that the original author paints. Fanfiction authors then associate them in their work. The interest of the fanfic author is to pair them. In case you don`t know, fanfiction is a work of fiction written by a fan and often based on the plot, characters, or setting of a book, movie, TV show, comic book, video game, or play. Typically, fanfiction writers use existing characters to shoot the source images. Sometimes fanfiction writers write stories that take place in the world the author created, and sometimes they take the characters and change the setting. It`s called an alternate universe story (AU for short), one of the many customizations you can add to fanfiction.

Usually, fans who write fanfiction do so to fill a void they perceive in the original work. These gaps, which fanfiction writers hope to fill, can usually be narrowed down to three main points. Fans can choose to pass on their passion in different ways. Fans can choose to feed their excitement by attending or hosting fan events, being a member of a related fan club, or contributing to fanbase projects. Fans are also sometimes involved in innovative projects called fan work. This fan work includes writing fanfiction, creating fan magazines, drawing fan art, or creating fan memes. J.K. Rowling also complained about the sexually explicit Harry Potter fanfiction.

[48] [49] Lawyers on behalf of Ms. Rowling specifically noted that she “does not complain about innocent fanfiction written by real Harry Potter fans”[49] and that she “is happy when spin-offs are published online until the publications are sold and it is clarified that she was not involved in the stories,” provided they do not contain pornography or racism. [50] Under current U.S. copyright law, copyright owners have the exclusive right to “create derivative works based on [their] copyrighted works.” [4] A derivative work is a work, including fanfiction, based on one or more pre-existing works. [5] In the event that a copyright holder decides to exercise its exclusive right to create derivative works against a work of fanfiction, it may sue the author of the fanfiction for copyright infringement. To prove infringement, an owner must provide proof that the defendant copied protected elements of the original work. [6] If proven, possible remedies for infringement include an order to cease sharing and/or destruction of the work (known as injunctive relief) or monetary damages.