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Fan Fiction Explained
ContinuousPark writes: "Alternative narratives of Star Wars, Star Trek, X-Files, Buffy, Xena, Starsky and Hutch! Whole seasons never filmed can be read on the Web!
The thriving fan-fiction world has been revealed to me in this Slate Magazine article which raises some interesting questions: Who owns the characters? What can be done to them? Who owns the plots if they were posted on some official TV series' Web site? Could I, say, put together a book of these stories, how about a play, a videogame?" The wierdest stuff I've heard is fan fiction writers trying to sue the show when bits of their stories turn up on the show ... I bet someone could write a pretty good generative x-files plot generator to write a few hundred x-files plot synopses, and then just wait until their big chance to score :)
Well, If we see natalie portman pour grits down her pants in "Star Wars Episode II" /. has a case for prior art. ;)
Remember folks, you heard it here on /. first.
___
I've got alot of background dealing with copyright and storyline use, but, IANAL, so consult one if you need official advice.
Fan Fiction fits the definition of "derivative work" in copyright law almost to a T. Despite what the article says, it's pretty clear that all fan fiction (by definition, almost) uses the settings, characters, and plot histories of copyrighted works. I don't care if they go into places that the original never imagined. In fact, that's irrelevant. What is relevant (in the eyes of the courts) is that you are using a well-known character, with defined background and references, that is owned by someone else. Sorry, but that's a derivative work, period. Honestly, I can't see that Fair Use comes into this at all - I think that the studios have a solid claim that "publishing" on the Internet is well beyond the scope of Fair Use, and thus, any protections thereunder are void (the fact that people are making no profit off it is immaterial).
The thing here that studios are afraid of, is that derived works are a two-way street. That is, the new author has to get permission to use the original work in order to publish, but that doesn't mean that the original author owns the new work. What the studios are afraid of in this scenario is that their scriptwriters accidently (or maybe not-so-accidently) use a plot identical to one found in a fanfic story. Oops! Now, the fanfic writer has ownership of that, and you get into some nasty situations.
Basically, I don't have much of a problem with the copyright owners policing their fanfic followers. They are well within their rights to do such, and in fact, it's probably really necessary to protect the integrity of their original works. However, the manner in which some do this is far too heavy-handed, as fanfic is beneficial to the original author. It's a fine line, but, in my opinion, one which the original author has all the right to determine where it should be drawn w/r/t his or her works.
Think of it this way: suppose I write code that I decide to GPL (for whatever reason). Giving fanfic true, unencumbered legal status would be about the same as letting recipients of my GPL code use it in their product, and change the license to something they wanted instead. ( I know this isn't a perfect example, but you're all smart - get the analogy?)
-Erik
There are always four sides to every story: your side, their side, the truth, and what really happened.
On the other hand, the copyright holders know that fanfic is inevitable for anything with a fan base. To stop fanfiction save in the case of misrepresting *childrens characters* would be the same as trying to stop kids from making up their own stories to use when they play with GI Joe or Transformers. As the article states, most fanfic authors are not in it for the money, they are trying to improve their writing and get commentary back. So as long as fanfic people do not put their work as 'official' or benefit any more from it, I see no reason for copyright holders to get involved.
That said, there are a few isolated cases of fanfic that crosses these rules. Obviously some ametures try to make money off the fanfic, which is in poor taste. Some go beyond reasonable: sure, a slash Buffy fic might not appeal to everyone, but its still considered fair use, but on the other hand, if one used the fanfic to slander and libel the producers, there's call for action.
While lawsuits regarding the MPAA and RIAA and Am. Broadcasters Assoc, and a whole bunch of other people that feel they are in charge of lawsuits, fanfic have been skimming underneath all this trouble. It would be helpful or potentally problematic to have a once-and-for-all legal ruling on fanfic, but the risk is high; fanfic protection is not 100% guarenteed.
Hopefully, the IP producers will release that fanfic is not losing their business and in fact can help it, and thus continue to encourage it. Some go a bit too far; the starwars.com site mentioned in the article, as well as WB's Acme City; post your fanfic and it becomes their. Sure, they encourage it, but you lose all their work for it. I certainly don't hope that the IPs don't try to push the model that fanfic is only valid if it is off their site (and therefore their property).
"Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again." - P&TB
"I can see my house from here!" - ST:
First segment--introduction to new world or life form. Crew displays initial horror at new culture.
Second segment--get review of Star Trek equipment and personnell--Hah, let's go down to Engineering and see Scotty. I wonder if that ol' bastard will ever go out of fashion.
Third segment--"what's that on the screen, Captain, it appears to be a Giant Plot Complication, and it's headed our way."
Fourth segment--$spacecraft gets nearly destroyed y GPC and crew figures out why this GPC is different from all other GPC. I believe, however, that all GPC's are the same, just with a different look on the outside. Maybe they use a GPC skins repository and just change them for each show.
Fifth segment--the 7th person on the landing party gets eaten by the GPC. Hint--he's the new guy introduced in segment 2.
Sixth segment--somebody at the last second pulls a fix-all out of their backpack/posterior and neutralizes the GPC. Hint--he's one of the regular characters that we spent an unusual amount of time checking into in segment 2.
seventh segment--weak crew members say goodbye, and our anti-climax procedes. We say goodbye to new life form/world and get a good Space Stillshot as the $spacecraft pulls away to wander yet again.
Eigth segment--buy our merchandise. Get a model of $spacecraft. Go to a convention. Spend money buying uniforms and makeup special effects to make you look like a new life form.
Hey, if my non-writing ass can come up with the formula, anybody can write their own Trek-derivative story. Go for it. Make lots of money.
I do what the voices on my console tell me to do.
From id software: Slashdot: CmdrTaco's Revenge Feel the excitement as you take the role of CmdrTaco as he goes berserk with an assault rifle, hunting down people who e-mail him about the stock market. Co-starring Gabriel and Tycho of Penny-Arcade, and Natalie Portman. (I'm being sarcastic! Not a troll!)
Got Rhinos?
Anne Rice, for example. I find her works to be incredibly moving, the characters wonderfully broad, and so on. She recently posted a comment about fan fiction to her site (www.annerice.com):
To Anne, her characters are a part of herself. For someone that's not her to write situations and events involving those characters that for all we know may completely destroy the chracterization set up for them is almost like abuse.Are they going to come after you with a team of lawyers if you write something using the characters? Maybe, maybe not. I'd hope so.
Would you disappoint, dismay, and disturb the author you're supposedly paying homage to with your ripoff? Almost certainly.
It's really not that difficult to make up your own characters within the genre, if you really want to write fan fiction. It allows for far more breadth and development...you can choose where the path leads, not someone else.
Sometimes the debate is more than just laws. Sometimes you have to consider the people who poured their souls into their characters...and how the person might be affected.
--Tsu
--- Now, go away 'cuz you all up in my Kool-Aid!
My examples are going to be from anime/manga, that's what I know...
Not all companies out there take a dim view of fanfiction. How many of you out there are familiar with doujinshi (sp?), the fanfic comic zines put out by comics/animation fans in Japan? They're considered free promotion and a breeding ground for new talent (e.g. CLAMP, who since created X, Rayearth, and CardCaptor Sakura - coming soon to a TV set near you! - etc.). They're left alone by the lawyers there, and if anything are considered an art form of themselves and a natural part of the scene. The mags that cover the comics industry devote pages to doujinshi, and even allow advertising for them. I wish the North American entertainment industry was that far-sighted. I have no doubt that the popularity of Sailor Moon here, or many other anime series, has far more to do with fanfiction and fan websites than any promotional efforts on the part of the show's producers.
Meanwhile, if North American companies had any idea what kind of shenanigans happened in some of those fan comics with characters from Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, etc. they'd have a coronary. But the companies can't launch a lawsuit on someone here who makes or distributes such naughty stuff without acknowledging publically that, yes, Pokémon porn does exist (*shudder*).
There's also the issue that many of the writers are minors, and the stuff they write is an extension of outgrown make-believe play, crossed with adolescent fantasies. (The Sailor Moon cast has assembled a frightening number of Sailor Suns, Sailor Earths, and magical boyfriends of American extraction) Isn't this what they want kids to do - to get caught up in the characters and make their own stories? Didn't we all write Transformers or She-ra or such stories when we were 7?
Yes, the companies own the characters. But while they have every right to tightly control the characters' images in merchandise and in canon, I think that trying to restrict people's imaginations to non-distributed media is pretty self-damaging, and practically impossible to boot.