Not Your Sandbox

[jeriendhal]

james_nicoll would like to point out that Diana Gabaldon doesn't care for fanfic.

Now, it's important to point out that what's she saying is essentially correct. Her characters and stories are copyrighted material. When other people publish stories online using them, for profit or not, that's a violation of her copyright, and with Sturgeon's Law in mind the result is 90% likely to be crap anyway. So she's well within her rights to call fanfic authors out on this.

Nevertheless...

With a grand total of one exception that I can think of in the past twenty years, fanfic's effect on author copyright has been frankly negligable. Plus, banning fans from writing fanfic is approximiately as effective as shoveling water. You'll expend a lot of energy you could be using for something else for very little effect.

There are ways of dealing with it. Now some authors, such as Gabaldon, try to forbid it. That's probably the least effective method. The ones who want to write in the author's world will, or alternatively will become so irritated by the resctriction that they quit buying the books.

Some like Mercedes Lackey or Anne McCaffrey try to at least channel it, making fanfic authors jump through legal hoops to be published semi-legally. That's only as effective as the fanfic writers who choose to pay attention to it. It was somewhat effective in the days of published fanzines, but with the explosion of the Internet it's nigh impossible.

Many authors take Lois McMaster Bujold's approach and politely ignore it, perhaps even making a note on their website that while they won't ban fanfic they're legally obligated not to read it either.

Some, like David Weber, take the rather unique approach of co-opting it, effectively opening their universes to a limited degree to outside authors to play in and professionally publishing the results. That can be tricky, especially when dealing with amateur authors, but you can't deny the fannish good will it generates.

And sometimes the fanfic author hits the proverbial jackpot and becomes one of the team, such as the Buffy fic writer who became a member of the show's writing staff.

* * *

Then of course there's the really gray areas of professional writers playing in another author's playground, except that the author is safely dead so copyright isn't an issue anymore. Is The Seven Percent Solution or the Mary Russell novels ripping off Arthur Conan Doyle's greatest work, or paying homage? Is the Wind Done Gone or Wicked stealing from the grave of the authors of Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz or providing clever social and literary commentary?

* * *

Me, I'm extraordinarily lucky. Not only do I write in the universe of one author who's fanfic friendly (LMB), but I also write in chaypeta's universe and received the high honor of not only her becoming a consumer of my works, she's seen fit to use some of my ideas in her own writing. For which I'll be forever grateful.

Because it's her sandbox. She just lets me play there.

Comments

Yup, lucky you...

[mjkj.livejournal.com]

Yup, lucky you...

(...and lucky me for being able to read those :) )

mjkj

[scarfman]

None of my sandboxes are single-owner boxes. Corporate screen story copyrightholders, in my passive and anecdotal research, send C&D notices to websites sharing the copyrightholders' own work (screengrabs, videoclips, episode transcripts), but don't bother websites presenting derivative works.

[secoh.livejournal.com]

Yeah you're lucky indeed!
The world I started playing in is owned by Tiffany Ross who as best as I can tell has no interest in fan fic other than high quality drawings by the artistic experts out there. I approached her about what I was doing and she said it was ok as long as I didn't make money off it which I agree with.

I feel that if it's a work of appreciation for the fictional universe and not published commercially then there should be no problem with it. It's when people start making money off the back of someone elses hard work I can understand their anger. So much better if the owner picks out the best of them to support them though! Plenty of fan driven shadowrun or star wars stuff has earned a place.

[lennan.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty conflicted by this. When I get my comic up and running, to be honest I probably wouldn't mind the fan fiction. I probably wouldn't read most of it either, but that's me and the 90% crap rule. Same goes for fan art. Being in fandom and also reading your stuff, made me realize that fanfiction is an incredibly great marketing tool albeit an unintentional one, and it allows fans to get together and have fun with something they like. I think it would behoove authors to tolerate it enough in recognition that it's possibly more beneficial than they think. I think that Diana Gabaldon is actually doing a good job of alienating fans and potential readers by that article, which is pretty stupid tactics if you think about it. While I'm sympathetic, I think she really is missing the point of fan-fiction. Le Guin's reaction is by far more classy. She'll turn a blind eye on the playing in her sandbox, but does mind playing with her characters.

Honestly, using me as an example, I would feel the same way. Unless I absolutely trust the fan-fic writer (like you for example) I would feel very uncomfortable with someone else writing my characters. They don't know how that character is in my mind and I feel that I would be the person best able to portray them by virtue of being their creator. But you've always shown that you really understand and care about the characters and write them in a way that the author and me the reader feels is sincere to original. It's obvious favoritism, but that's humanity for you. XD I mean, say if someone saw my work and wanted to write fan-fiction of my characters, I wouldn't stop them or go after them, but I would chose not to read it. But that's where I draw the line: my characters. Personally, I would be really happy if people wanted to play in my world, because I'm one person with ideas and can't possibly explore them all. And I'm creating something to be shared anyway. I would definitely draw the line at someone profiting from my work or writing my characters in their own stories, but otherwise, I would welcome it.

Not to mention that if "fan-fiction" or derivative art works weren't allowed then how would Shakespeare have written Hamlet? Or his other plays? How about Chaucer, how about all of those myths? The problem is that what was originally meant to protect the monetary earnings of an author has now become an issue of whether or not something is "theirs". And they usually say this without realizing the history of literature and writing. I'm really conflicted about this, because while I agree and sympathize to a certain extent, I also recognize that every author is to some extent deriving their ideas from half-remembered and mis-remembered bits of things they read as well. Even if they think they aren't. At least the fan-fic writers are being honest and saying that's exactly what they're doing. While I'm sympathetic to authors because really I do understand, I also feel sympathetic to the fan-ficcers because a majority of them are people who simply want to share enjoyment of a work. I think that authors who go fascist on this issue will only lose. They will make themselves look like they're persecuting their own fans. Stupid business practice if you ask me and as much as artists hate business, you've got to at least understand enough that you're selling a product.

I mean, seriously, using a pedophile as an example? Way to put your foot in your mouth, author. For someone writing about people, that's quite insensitive.

[mjkj.livejournal.com]

Well, I can see the legal issue of "passive allowance" as she described it - but I think that this could be easily thwarted by a statement on the site that says knowledge of use does not mean agreement to it or (partial) transfer of ownership of a character / setting / universe etc.

Other than that — I really do not understand her aggravation...

mjkj

[chaypeta.livejournal.com]

Very much enjoyed reading the debate this entry sparked.

Personally, I feel qualified only to speak from my perspective... that being a writer with a sizeable piece of work which has enjoyed a small but loyal patronage in the internets. I do not make (much) money out of my title and never intended to nor plan to. I write and publish for the fun of it. And part of the fun of it for me is looking at how other people perceive my characters and world setting through fanfic and fanart. I'm not constrained by legal issues involved with making a living from my work... my stuff is in no way big enough to attract any sort of marketing. Also I am not so protective of my characters that I can't allow other people to write about them how they veiw them. I find it interesting to see how others envision my people. If i don't like it I stop reading.

Having said that, I can sympathize with authors who make their living off their work having a negative veiw of fan works. the biggest problem I can see, besides fans selling their fanfics for profit and thus cutting a share of a market they don't legally own, is the risk that a fan will accuse the original author of misappropriating ideas from fanfics and incorporating them into the core stories. It has happened in the past. This is why authors publically state that they will not read fanfics. But this, unfortunately, may not be sufficient to stave off legal proceedings should an accussation arise. A dead author cannot be accused thus. One would argue that why have the seventy year clause then if not to protect the income of the copyright holders. There is a lot of room for debate here on respecting the decendants desire to preserve the original authors work in the minds of the readers without it being mixed with the ideas of fan writers. Personally i would argue that each individual reader creates their own internal fanfics reguardles... For example: have you never looked forward to a revelation or confrontation in a story only to find that when you get there the canon version feels unsatisfactory? Who hasn't rewritten the scene in their head to appease that sense of dissapointmen? We are all fanfic writers internally. And we are all smart enough to differentiate between what is canon and what someone else has fanticised based on original characters and world settings.