Kleenexwoman86

Lately, there have been a lot of lawsuits directed at fanfic writers--whether het, slash, or real-person. Does anybody know more about this? What do you think about it?

flyinghigh

I don't know anything about lawsuits, but I know there was a law review article written a couple of years ago about fan fic by Rebecca Tushnet (I think published in Yale Law Review), which might be an informative/interesting read if you're interested in the legal aspects of this.

Silversun

Yeech, that's scary. The world is such a commercial, out-to-get-you place right now. I mean, what are fanfic writers getting out of this? At most, the appreciation of other people. No one's getting paid to do this job, so it's not even like music burning where you can see that it could hurt the artist/record label financially.

LJC, do you know what they are charging fanfic writers with?

Crossbow

Huh. Probably copyright infringement, although if the fanfic author isn't making a profit, they don't have a very good case.

Dwen

Seriously people have actually been sued over this!?

I mean from the original creator's POV I can understand, I would hate to have something so close to my heart messed around with. But at the same time it's flattering. There are some artists who are very protective of their work.

BUT that being said, I would imagine it's probably not the artists that are initiating most of the lawsuits. Corporations who own the copyright, etc.

Sigh soon they'll be slapping lawsuits on people for having an imagination and thinking for themselves.

Berlin

I read a while back that feedback and reconition is considered profit in the fan fiction lawsuits. However, I think if you post a disclaimer on her fan fiction stating that you aren't requesting feedback, and are posting your fan fiction for your own personal use, then I think they can't really say anything. You can't help it if someone "accidentally" stumbles upon your "personal" webpage and reads your work and then emails you about it.

That's my thought.
Berlin

Silversun

That's very interesting. You can't even ask for feedback? I'm guilty of that. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] Do you think having a mailing list (for sending out updates, etc) also falls into that category?

I'm kind of scared now that this subject's been brought up. [img]smilies/look.gif[/img]

Berlin

I'm not sure Silversun. I've actually taken it upon myself to do some research on the whole fan fiction lawsuit thing. I'm waiting for this lawyer I know to get back to me on what is allowed and what you can be sued for and if there are any loop holes. Hopefully, I'll hear something tomorrow. I'll keep you up dated.

Berlin

lost lullaby

I remember a while ago there was this whole fiasco with Harry Potter fan fiction (and how they had problems with all the slash and smut that was being written).

Anyway, I don't really know what to say about this. We aren't selling our stories, so why should it be such a big deal? Like Silversun said, the most we can get out of this is appreciation.

krazyC

I don't see where they have a leg to stand on, I mean c'mon I'm not seeing a dime on any of the fic I've ever written. If they start sueing everyone who writes fanfic, they are going to come off looking bad.

They really should encourage the viewers to write fanfic cause IMHO it substains interest in the show. Lets them know just how much we fans are loving the characters that are being created to entertain us. Devoted time to write something to further entertain ourselves and others.

*Di*

I'm really interested to see what will happen in this area. I'm quite afraid for my own sake too.

I love writing and reading fics and I can't see why feedback is profit.

Fic means fiction and everyone knows it isn't for real.

Crossbow

Fascinating.

I think that if an author doesn't want fic written about their work, people should respect that and not do it. But no, there always have to be lawsuits. [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]

dukesmom

I’ve had a couple of thoughts that I don’t remember being explored here.

First, I’ve seen posts on other boards where fans admit they sometimes confuse what has occurred in well-written fanfics with what has actually transpired on the show. While that may be satisfying to the fanfic author, I can see how the writers of the show might feel defensive in this situation.

Second, what if an episode of a television show mirrors what happened in a fanfic posted before the episode airs – especially if that fanfic wasn't based on spoilers? As a fanfic author, would you feel your idea had been stolen or assume that “great minds think alike?” Would you attempt your own lawsuit against the show?

Walloo

I never heard about fanfic lawsuits [img]smilies/look.gif[/img]


They are illegal and somewhere its understandable, but for the biggest societies of television (and its almost always them who sued, like recently FOX advertised a site) its ridiculous, if those companies were really against fanfic and all kind of fanworks there wouldnt be any on the net...like FF.net would have been closed since long, I wonder if they've received lawsuits? The thing is that if companies go on sueing every fans well they're going to find themselves without fans anymore...

Fanfic illegal?

[ 01-11-2004: Message edited Walloo ]

Silversun

Considering that your own fic was illegal (as it seems to be) to begin with, I don't think you have any grounds of suing the network for stealing your idea. Even if they did in fact steal it.

Although, my inclination would be that we're just thinking along the same lines. It would take a pretty amazing 'coincidental event' to convince me that the network actually stole my idea. I write virtual episodes for the cancelled show Young Americans, and so do a couple of fellow writers who work in tandem. We've each written 25+ episodes, and it's amazing when you look at it how much similarity is between our major storylines. Our stories are pretty divergent on the details and from episode to episode, but most major plotlines (such as getting character A together with character B and breaking them up again, introducing an OC romantic interest for character C, introducing an OC who is the sister of character D, deciding to make character E gay...) undeniably go in the same direction. Do we copy each other? No. The ideas have long been in our heads before the other wrote it down. Do we think alike? Absolutely. That's just what happens when you decide to carry on a show long-term with its original flavour intact.

Walloo, thanks for the link. I just skimmed it, which is probably why I don't understand this, but what exactly is fusion? [img]smilies/confused.gif[/img]

[ 01-11-2004: Message edited Silversun ]