# FanFic



## Lordy (Jul 3, 2014)

Hi all.

FanFic. I was just wondering what this is. I've seen it mentioned on this forum, plus I've recently seen it mentioned on Facebook. Never really heard of it before. Had a browse on the net but still none the wiser. Just wondering if someone can fill this sadly out of touch  guy in it would much appreciated.

Lordy.


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## Terry D (Jul 3, 2014)

FanFic is short for fan fiction. Stories written using characters, storylines, or situations made popular in other media. If you were to write a story about Dr. Who, that would be fan fiction.


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## Schrody (Jul 3, 2014)

Fan fiction is the kind of literature where fans re-write their favorite books/shows etc., mainly because of the love for the book/show, and it's non profit, and not published (if it was, creators of such pieces could be sued for copyright infringement). Some authors of the original work knew to sue authors of the fan fic even when they did it just for fun. 

For example, you're a fan of the LOTR and you want to wrote your version. That's all okay until you respect author rights


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## garza (Jul 3, 2014)

Me when I was 15 or 16 and trying to write short stories exactly like William Faulkner - that's fanfic. It's imitating the style of a well-known writer or imitating a popular series. I've seen several fake _Star Wars_ style movies listed on Youtube. I was stopped trying to write like Faulkner when a prof at University pointed out that even if I succeeded, I could never be anything but second-rate Faulkner, so I switched to Hemingway. (kidding)

Apparently fan-fic is generated by people who want to write but are not capable of creating their own style or thinking up their own story lines, so they attempt to ride the coat tails of established writers. Sad thing is they may be perfectly capable of good writing without imitating anyone.


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## Potty (Jul 3, 2014)

> Apparently fan-fic is generated by people who want to write but are not capable of creating their own style or thinking up their own story lines, so they attempt to ride the coat tails of established writers. Sad thing is they may be perfectly capable of good writing without imitating anyone.



This point is true. However fanfic that would breach forum rules is not so much the imitation of a style but using the characters and worlds of an established work of fiction. As Terry said, if I wrote a short story with Dr. Who in it, that would be fanfic... regardless of whose style I wrote it in it's the usage of Dr. Who that is the issue. 

It's a legality thing... we can't afford a lawsuit is the long and short of it.

*Edit:* I'm going to amend my original comment about this point being true. 

I've just read this on wiki and feel that my agreement is entirely unfair:



> Fan fiction is what literature might look like if it were reinvented from scratch after a nuclear apocalypse by a band of brilliant pop-culture junkies trapped in a sealed bunker. They don't do it for money. That's not what it's about. The writers write it and put it up online just for the satisfaction. They're fans, but they're not silent, couch-bound consumers of media. The culture talks to them, and they talk back to the culture in its own language.


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## Ari (Jul 3, 2014)

garza said:


> [...]
> Apparently fan-fic is generated by people who want to write but are not capable of creating their own style or thinking up their own story lines, so they attempt to ride the coat tails of established writers. Sad thing is they may be perfectly capable of good writing without imitating anyone.



I think some people just write fanfics because they like the author's story so much. They adore the characters, the world, everything, and they want more. Or maybe they want a different ending, or they want to play with cross-overs, like what would happen if the Starship Enterprise landed in Middle Earth. 

I have a friend who writes fan fiction better than some published authors write books. She has no confidence issue - she knows she's good - but she has no desire to actually write her own stories. She just doesn't want to. Writing is her hobby, and what she loves doing is fan fiction, and so. 
I don't think it's sad when she's doing what she wants to do.

You also get people who really hate fanfiction (like me) and call people all sorts of names for writing it (not like me). 
Not sure why, but I guess if something exists, then you'll find people who hate it.


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## J.T. Chris (Jul 3, 2014)

_Fifty Shades of Gray_ started as _Twilight _fan fic. Now she's rich.

Sigh.


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## bazz cargo (Jul 3, 2014)

Fan fiction can be awful or not bad or stunningly good, just like any other form of creative writing.

There is no reason why someone cannot write a fan fiction book and send it off to the relevant publisher, more Dr Who, Star Trek, and other franchises get published than stand alone works. 

Writing for a franchise is an old and respected way of making a few pennies, like ghost writing. 

Look at how many Hollywood movies are based on comic books, old television shows and fairy tales. There is a great deal of money to be made with a decent script, five or six million dollars is not unheard of. Not bad for a bit of fan fiction.


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## Apple Ice (Jul 3, 2014)

I think fanfic is wonderful. Computer games are the biggest market of fanfiction out there, and you can always tell which ones are written by actual fans because they are the good ones. I think Dr. Who is a great idea with a really shit team of writers and targeted at the wrong audience. I often think it could be brilliant if the right person picked it up, but what do I know.

It's a subject which tends to attract a downward view but I don't know why, no medium of fiction is any more prestigious than another


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## J.T. Chris (Jul 3, 2014)

bazz cargo said:


> Fan fiction can be awful or not bad or stunningly good, just like any other form of creative writing.
> 
> There is no reason why someone cannot write a fan fiction book and send it off to the relevant publisher, more Dr Who, Star Trek, and other franchises get published than stand alone works.
> 
> ...



Franchises contract their own authors, however. I couldn't write a _Star Wars_ novel and expect to get it published. Series work is not unsolicited.


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## Nickleby (Jul 3, 2014)

To some extent all of us start out writing fanfic, I believe. In the same way, we learn to talk by imitating the sounds made by the people around us. We enjoy a story by Jane Austen, for example, so we want to prolong that enjoyment by creating more of her work (which obviously she can't do herself). We spend so much time vicariously being Captain Sisko on _Deep Space Nine_ that we want to prolong the experience, so we imagine new adventures for him.

Remember that fan fiction is _fiction_. It may not be terribly original (although it can be), but the author is developing a skill. It's a quantum leap from there to using your own ideas, but you're still dealing with the same basic tools of characterization, plotting, dialog, and so on.

To further garza's point a bit, some writers influence us so much that we consciously copy their styles. General fiction writers may go through a phase when they write like Faulkner, although they won't necessarily write about Yoknapatawpha County. Horror writers will go through a similar phase with H.P. Lovecraft. The hope is that some of their style will rub off on us.

And to clarify Potty's point, for legal reasons, fanfic is categorically not allowed on Writing Forums.


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## bazz cargo (Jul 3, 2014)

> *OP J. T. Chris* Franchises contract their own authors, however. I couldn't write a _Star Wars_ novel and expect to get it published. Series work is not unsolicited.


All true. 

My original point is still valid, fan fiction is not all bad or unrewarded.


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## garza (Jul 3, 2014)

Franchise writing is not fanfic. Franchise writing is straight business and is not imitation but a continuation of the original and, as J.T. points out, is not unsolicited.


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## Deafmute (Jul 3, 2014)

these are all fair points, but in layman terms when someone references fan fiction they are generally referring to someone who is using characters or settings from another already published already well known work. Its generally armature and generally by people who are not creative enough or motivated enough to create their own worlds. Its generally an insult to people who consider themselves writers, or at least its looked down upon by "real" writers. This is the usual usage. That said like everyone above has mentioned its a range of all kinds, I actually write a fanfiction set in the universe of a video game I play, I created it because I needed something to get me interested in staying in the game and to show off to friends in game. I didn't take it very far but it was plenty of fun to work on.


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## shadowwalker (Jul 4, 2014)

For those of you who like to look down their noses at fanfic writers, you might want to consider how many published authors nowadays start out with fanfic, and how many published authors still write fanfic. But, hey, if it makes people feel better about their own writing to put down others, go for it.


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## Elvenswordsman (Jul 4, 2014)

Fan fiction is great! The only trouble comes from copyright laws...


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## garza (Jul 4, 2014)

Copyright law is what protects those of us who depend on our craft to make our living.


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## Sam (Jul 4, 2014)

shadowwalker said:


> For those of you who like to look down their noses at fanfic writers, you might want to consider how many published authors nowadays start out with fanfic, and how many published authors still write fanfic. But, hey, if it makes people feel better about their own writing to put down others, go for it.



Has every review you've ever given a book been five stars? 

People don't like certain things. I don't like paranormal romance. As a form of writing, I think it's a skosh above the graffiti one encounters in the stall of a public toilet. It doesn't make me feel any better as a writer, but it is my opinion. Just because I voice it doesn't mean I feel threatened by writers of paranormal romance.

Some people don't like fan-fiction. They look at it as a form of cheating or lack of creativity. That's their opinion. It doesn't mean they feel so threatened by writers of fan-fiction that they need to put them down to make themselves feel better. 

But, hey, why don't we all pretend to like everything so that other people don't feel hurt by our opinions?


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## Apple Ice (Jul 4, 2014)

I can understand why writers don't like their work being used, I wouldn't like spending my time writing an essay for someone to then take the brunt of it and change it to their own and make some money of it. Don't think it's all bad, though, it's still your work in circulation and would only go to improve its accessibility among readers.

George RR Martin says fanfic is a direct copyright infringement which is basically robbery and it stifles the creativity of aspiring writers. Quite interesting, I thought. Still though, as long as a writer isn't taking money directly from the pockets of its creator, I don't see an issue with it.


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## Potty (Jul 4, 2014)

Apple Ice said:


> and it stifles the creativity of aspiring writers.



How does he figure this? Not sure how one person writing fan fic would have any impact on someone else writing something unless that person was taking lessons from the fan fic writer.


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## Kyle R (Jul 4, 2014)

Take it as a compliment if readers love your characters so much they spend their free time daydreaming about them and writing it down.

If my writing ever gets famous, I'll open a Fan Fiction Contest section on my author website and invite my fans to write their own stories using my characters. The best story wins a free copy of my next book.


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## Potty (Jul 4, 2014)

Now then, here's a conundrum! Let's say a famous author is reading his own fan fiction (written by his fans) and he likes the plot/storyline of one so much that he decides to create his next book based on that storyline. Would he be in breach of some sort of copyright?


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## popsprocket (Jul 4, 2014)

Potty said:


> Now then, here's a conundrum! Let's say a famous author is reading his own fan fiction (written by his fans) and he likes the plot/storyline of one so much that he decides to create his next book based on that storyline. Would he be in breach of some sort of copyright?



The characters belong to him in the first place and an idea can't be copyrighted. Said author is well in the clear.

Although it could be career-suicide to copy a fanfiction plot if the fan community somehow discovers that it happened. The media would skewer any writer doing that.


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## shadowwalker (Jul 4, 2014)

It's one thing to dislike fanfic or a particular genre. But that's vastly different from disparaging the authors who write it.


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## Sam (Jul 4, 2014)

shadowwalker said:


> It's one thing to dislike fanfic or a particular genre. But that's vastly different from disparaging the authors who write it.



It's done all the time, for goodness sake. 

It comes with the territory of being a writer.


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## Jeko (Jul 4, 2014)

"Fan fiction is fan fiction. I don't believe I'll lose my rights to my characters and books if I allow/fail to prevent/turn a blind eye to people writing say Neverwhere fiction, as long as those people aren't, say, trying to sell books with my characters in. As long as people aren't commercially exploiting characters I've created, and are doing it for each other, I don't see that there's any harm in [fan fiction], and given how much people enjoy it, it's obviously doing some good. It doesn't bother me."

-Neil Gaiman

I had a post about understanding the views of those who write fan fiction, but then I came across this essay. So now I think I understand those views better. 

My stance is similar to Hobb's, which means that I now disagree with my favorite author (above). But I have one proviso; an author should know that the fanfic world exists and understand the cost of the entertainment that it provides. In a way, trying to stop fanfiction would be like a politician trying to stop newspapers.


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## shadowwalker (Jul 4, 2014)

Sam said:


> It's done all the time, for goodness sake.
> 
> It comes with the territory of being a writer.



Oh, and here I thought one should review the work and not the author. How silly of me. Insult away.


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## Bruno Spatola (Jul 4, 2014)

I have a memory of Neil Gaiman writing a story where, in a dream, Aslan and the White Witch get it oooooon, so his stance on the matter is _crystal clear.
_
If it's harmful or exploitative somehow, it's plagiarism; if it's not, it's fanfic. Whether it's written well or badly still depends on the writer, not the genre or whatever. It's okay to dislike the concept of reusing another writer's creations, but that's another point I think.


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## Morkonan (Jul 5, 2014)

Lordy said:


> Hi all.
> 
> FanFic. I was just wondering what this is. I've seen it mentioned on this forum, plus I've recently seen it mentioned on Facebook. Never really heard of it before. Had a browse on the net but still none the wiser. Just wondering if someone can fill this sadly out of touch  guy in it would much appreciated.
> 
> Lordy.



Fanfic is generally undertaken by writers who don't have anything useful to write about...  So, they want to play in someone else's sandbox, a sandbox full of more toys than they could possibly invent on their own...

Yes, I have a dim view of "fanfic." Specifically, I have a dim view of people jumping into fully fleshed settings and taking over characters from someone else's stories. I do not have such a view for writers who would undertake to write something within a particular Setting, using their own characters and storylines. Though, working entirely within original work is always preferable, in my opinion.

Fanfic can usually be found festering in the bottom of Star Trek forums, skulking behind the threads in some Anime/cartoon/Japanophile sites, dying horribly unoriginal and overacted deaths in Star Wars discussion groups and doing very disgusting things that require medical remedies and power tools in certain darker places of the 'net... Usually, it should be entirely avoided as there is almost no value to any of it, whatsoever.

I've written two pieces of what might be called "fanfic", but was only as part of a challenged issued on a gaming site. I only used the setting of the 4X Strategy game and stayed as original as possible, within the boundaries of the challenge. I used entirely original content, purposefully, and as often as possible in order to accomplish the desired task. I bathed vigorously afterwards and, then, rewrote the stories for a unique setting of my own design, just to get the taste out of my mouth... 

(See? I have a low opinion of fanfic, in general. However, that is no to say that it should always be regarded as being entirely without any creative or artistic merit whatsoever. It's just to say that it should usually be regarded as having no creative or artistic merit whatsoever...)

PS - Writers of fanfic, I hope you can see the tremendous swelling in my jaw, caused by a tongue thoroughly occupied with stuffing itself into my cheek, here...


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## shadowwalker (Jul 5, 2014)

I've gotten to the point here where I no longer care what others think of my writing or the fact I've written a lot of fanfic, or what they think of me as a writer, for that matter. Since they probably haven't read anything I've written, it's obviously their problem, not mine.


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## J.T. Chris (Jul 5, 2014)

Hey, part of being a writer is thickening your skin, so write on.


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## garza (Jul 5, 2014)

I've got no _problem_ with fanfic, but I do have a strong _opinion_ about it. There are those who have very bad opinions of ghost writers, of which I happen to be one. The money's good, so why worry about someone's opinion so long as they buy the book?


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## Kyle R (Jul 5, 2014)

One of my favorite holidays is a worldwide exercise in real-life fan fiction: _Halloween_.

Kids dressing up as fictional characters, parading around in situations the characters themselves would never actually participate in. 

Can you imagine the _Incredible Hulk _skipping around a neighborhood, ringing doorbells and asking for lollipops?

If I wrote that down as a story, some authors would take up arms. "Hulk would never do that! This is insulting! It's outrageous! A misrepresentation of character! Thievery!"

But if a toddler does it in real life, some of those same authors would smile and shovel candy into the child's tiny hands, saying, "Aww.. Isn't he adorable? Look, even his diaper is green!" :-k


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## garza (Jul 5, 2014)

If those costumes are licenced by the company holding the rights to the character, that's okay. If Grandma makes the costume for her grandchild, that's not a threat, so we can call it okay. But if someone not licenced is making and selling the costumes, that's not okay. Even if they are giving away the costume, that's not okay. 

Anything that threatens the legitimate rights of the owner of the property touches a nerve.


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## shadowwalker (Jul 5, 2014)

The only place you can legally sell fanfic is on Amazon, and then only specific fandoms. 

Also, developing a thick skin generally means when it comes to 'attacks' on one's _work_. When aspersions are made against authors personally because of what they write, that's something completely different. At least on some forums.


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## Neith (Jul 8, 2014)

garza said:


> Me when I was 15 or 16 and trying to write short stories exactly like William Faulkner - that's fanfic. It's imitating the style of a well-known writer or imitating a popular series.



I thought this was imitation? I thought fanfiction was taking the characters, plot, setting, etc. but writing in your own style, or at least, not necessarily the style of the original work. For example, you could have your own character on his/her own ship, but in the Star Trek universe (with Klingons and the Federation and everything) or you could have a story where, I don't know, Data becomes human and kills Captain Picard. But just writing in the style of something, I always thought, was just imitating that work and not specifically fanfic (for example, having your own story, with your own characters, but having the dialog and pacing like Joss Whedon's Buffy)?


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## Kyle R (Jul 8, 2014)

Right you are, Neith.

Fanfic is when you write a story using another author's intellectual property (characters, story world, et cetera). 

As far as I know, writing style is not intellectual property. :encouragement:


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## Bishop (Jul 8, 2014)

I'd love it if people wrote fanfics of my stuff. Except... you know, maybe not with horrible, horrible sex stuff.


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## Neith (Jul 8, 2014)

Bishop said:


> I'd love it if people wrote fanfics of my stuff. Except... you know, maybe not with horrible, horrible sex stuff.



I don't know, it'd be good for a laugh...and maybe strangely flattering.

"Wow, someone thought of my characters enough that they had X character do _that_to Y character? Um...thank you?" :tongue2:


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## garza (Jul 8, 2014)

Maybe what I was doing was not fanfic by technical definition, but once I was called on it I quit trying to imitate the style of Faulkner or anyone else. I decided then, and I still believe, that deliberately to try to imitate someone, whether only their style or otherwise, is wrong.


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## Bruno Spatola (Jul 8, 2014)

Not only is it wrong, Garza, but utterly _boring,_ which I find an even worse sin  

If you're not trying to write in your own words/style, then start doing so ASAP, or don't even bother. Harsh, but that's the logic I'd apply to myself.


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## popsprocket (Jul 8, 2014)

Bishop said:


> I'd love it if people wrote fanfics of my stuff. Except... you know, maybe not with horrible, horrible sex stuff.



That's the best part of having a fan-fic fan base though!

Don't you want to see all the sexcapades that people imagine your characters getting into?

"What? Why is Jack sleeping with Sally? He's about as straight as a circle!"


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## shadowwalker (Jul 9, 2014)

Bruno Spatola said:


> Not only is it wrong, Garza, but utterly _boring,_ which I find an even worse sin
> 
> If you're not trying to write in your own words/style, then start doing so ASAP, or don't even bother. Harsh, but that's the logic I'd apply to myself.



Trying to copy someone else's style is definitely boring and usually doesn't come off very well. Taking someone else's style and using it to find your own - part of the learning process. And for many writers, fanfic is part of the learning process. It certainly was for me.


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## Bruno Spatola (Jul 9, 2014)

Everyone has their unique starting points, and they're vital, definitely; but, like training wheels, once you've learned to ride the bike, you should ideally unscrew them and put them in a cupboard. (This is more about copying a writer's style than writing fanfic.) 

I started off copying, too, but with poetry instead of fiction, bizarrely. I was five or six years old, and our teacher tasked us to write a poem. I didn't understand why you'd go to the trouble of creating something new when you could just re-write something that was already good. When I did that, and handed my work in, the teacher berated me. I still remember the look on his face when he read it. I never did it again.


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## Schrody (Jul 9, 2014)

Fanfic. I don't know how would I react. I probably wouldn't be happy at first, but I guess I would see it as a huge compliment ("Hey, someone not only read my book, but he/she loved characters/setting that much, he's trying to give them new life"), a form of flattery, later. I don't approve making money from fanfic, though.

P.s. when I was a kid (11/12), I started re-writing one episode of Star Trek. I also wanted to "make my own book" copying text from encyclopedia. I didn't finish any of it, but the point is I didn't even heard of fanfic or copyright infringement then. Crazy kid :mrgreen: Other than those attempts, I never wrote fanfic.


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## Kingstonmike (Jul 13, 2014)

I have little against fanfic as a gesture of love for the material or simply as a way to try out writing, without the added hassle of having to create a world out of whole cloth. When I younger, I wrote a Tomb Raider fanfic where she teams up with Indiana Jones' grandson, who turns out to be a lot more like his Great grandfather (Sean Connery) than his Grampa. It was set in the world of "Tomb Raider III" if I recall. Was it great literature? No...Was it fun as hell to write and a great way to try out my writing chops? Sure...


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## Kingstonmike (Jul 13, 2014)

Potty said:


> Now then, here's a conundrum! Let's say a famous author is reading his own fan fiction (written by his fans) and he likes the plot/storyline of one so much that he decides to create his next book based on that storyline. Would he be in breach of some sort of copyright?



Well, there's an interesting question...I'd say yeah....

- - - Updated - - -



Potty said:


> Now then, here's a conundrum! Let's say a famous author is reading his own fan fiction (written by his fans) and he likes the plot/storyline of one so much that he decides to create his next book based on that storyline. Would he be in breach of some sort of copyright?



Well, there's an interesting question...I'd say yeah....


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## Mutimir (Jul 13, 2014)

Personally, I've always viewed Fan fic as being pointless.


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## shadowwalker (Jul 13, 2014)

Kingstonmike said:


> Well, there's an interesting question...I'd say yeah....



If the fanfic used OCs and the originating author used the same ones, it's possible, I suppose. The biggest problem for the author, IMO, would be backlash from fans should the fanfic writer call foul (whether or not they claimed copyright infringement). Fans can be fickle, and fanfic writers quite protective of their own. All of which is why most authors won't read fanfic of their stuff. Less hassles that way.

- - - Updated - - -



Mutimir said:


> Personally, I've always viewed Fan fic as being pointless.



There are a great many things in life I see as being pointless - so I don't get involved with them.


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## Kingstonmike (Jul 14, 2014)

garza said:


> Maybe what I was doing was not fanfic by technical definition, but once I was called on it I quit trying to imitate the style of Faulkner or anyone else. I decided then, and I still believe, that deliberately to try to imitate someone, whether only their style or otherwise, is wrong.



I think it depends on why you are doing it; If it's done in good faith or, like I've suggested, as a way of getting practice, then more power to you. Also I think it's what you do with the characters...If your story changes the representation of the character significantly, then I think the author has the right to assert his or her right to having the sole perogative to develop the character...IE, portraying a major hero in a book as a coward or as without morals, when the story has been all about his moral code...


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