As you all know, I’m a supporter of fanfiction. There are certain pieces of the writing arena that I disagree with (slash and Suethors, for example) but, like the law and abortion, it’s either all or nothing. You can’t pick and choose what should stay and what should go in an argument like this. J.K. Rowling approves of fanfiction in general but discourages pieces like slash. I don’t believe she’s actually come outright and said “I forbid the writing of slash fanfiction for the Harry Potter works” but she has said she doesn’t like it. Does it stop the ficcers? What do you think?

Lee Goldberg has a rather staunch and finite take on the matter; it’s theft. Now, I don’t know who Lee is although I have seen his name tossed about in some writing circles. I’m just commenting on his article. There are many people that take this stand when it comes to fanfiction. Personally I think it’s a bit extreme but, as opinions go, they vary from person to person. However, the lines of permissions with fanfiction are continuing to blur as the years go on.

Is it copyright infringement? Well, technically, that would depend on what the original copyright of the work states. Even the Copyright Office’s definition on the matter is left to the interpretation of individual stipulations made regarding specific works. If a copyright holder grants permission for derivative works, then copyright can’t be broken; not legally. If an author expressly states that they don’t want derivative works based on their copyrights, then any such works are in direct violation of copyright and the holder has a right to to seek legal retributions for the infringement.

Now what about those, for instance production companies, that actively turn a blind eye to fanfiction writers? I mentioned this in a previous post. They are neither approving nor disapproving of these works, and purposely so. They know that to vehemently disapprove could risk a lot of current and potential money. Those companies are smart. They know that fanfiction is actually a marketing ploy for their product, done for free by the fans which, in turn, puts more money into their pockets. Why would they stop people from promoting for them for free?

Lee does make a point. He states that fanficcers won’t care if an author expressly states they don’t want derivative work made of their copyrights. There I certainly agree with him. No doubt there’s Interview with the Vampire fanfiction out there somewhere, much to Anne Rice’s and her lawyer’s chagrin. Is that disrespectful? I think so but options need to be weighed. Her brash tactics have lost her quite a few fans over the years. Have her sales suffered because of it? Not a clue. Can’t attest to that. What I can attest to is the loss of a fanbase. I meet more people that are turned off by Anne Rice than they are turned on, simply by the way she treats her fans.

Now don’t get me wrong. You can disallow fanfiction without being a prick about it but, like Lee said, it’s not going to stop anyone, unfortunately, and, really, it only draws more people to what you’re actually selling. I can certainly understand the stance authors take when it comes to derivative works, what with all the crap that is out there. I’ve seen Hermione do things that that poor prude would never do in canon. And should I make it to the point in my writing career where I have people wanting to write fanfiction for it, the options need to be weighed. Do I care more about what my characters are doing in someone else’s mind or do I care more about encouraging my fans to not only read my work, but write as well? Everyone needs to start somewhere and there are quite a few writers that started in the realm of fanfiction. The last thing I want to do is discourage writing of any kind.

Unfortunately, in a world like today, where HOT COFFEE needs to be emblazoned on the side of a cup at Starbucks, everything does need to be spelled out for people. Yes, copyright holders need to expressly state whether they don’t want people creating fanfiction from their works otherwise people are going to take the silence as an OK to do it. Regardless, though, it’s still going to get written. Murder is illegal but it doesn’t stop people from doing it. What it boils down to is respect. If so many entities are actively turning their backs on fanfiction permissions while silently cheering it on for profit’s sake, who is going to look at that and go, “I’d rather obtain written permission, just to be safe”? If ficcers are given the ok, then great. If they’re given the “don’t you dare do it,” they should respect that (notice the use of the word “should”). If it’s nothing one way or another, it would boil down to the specific stipulations in the individual copyrights. Even then, how much of the product is copyrighted and, specifically, what’s covered is all a means of interpretation. Even under copyright law, there is fair use.

Theft involves some type of gain for the thief, usually in some kind of monetary or valuable form. What gain do fanficcers make? They get to carry on a world they love with characters they adore and become pretty permanent fixtures in the franchise they’re writing about. What does the copyright holder gain through derivative works of their copyrights? A broader, more loyal fanbase that’ll buy into pretty much anything they consider selling from that world.

With something like this, it’s not as black and white as people make it out to be, especially with the parasitic internet being able to broadcast one tiny thing to all four corners of the earth before the creator can consider the thought of retracting it. Again, it’s all a matter of individual opinions. It really is, even legally.

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