Is fan fiction legal?

[sleigh]

I came across this article in the Literary Review of Canada, examining some of the issues with fan fiction. Haven't had time to do more than skim it yet, but it looked interesting enough that I thought people might be interested...

Comments

[the-corbie.livejournal.com]

Very interesting article. I've copied the link for a discussion on the ASOIAF forum: we've had some robust discussions of the topic there in the past, given grrm's views on ASOIAF fanfic. ;)

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?showtopic=29717

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

Link away! It's good fodder for discussion, I think.

[shhbabe.livejournal.com]

How do you, as a published author, feel about fans writing your characters? Have you read any fan fiction based on your novels?

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

I think it would be wonderful to be so popular that my fans were driven write their own stories set in my worlds.

And if they ever do that, I don't want to hear about it. I absolutely won't go looking for fanfic based on anything I wrote, and I don't want anyone pointing it out to me, either -- because I feel as an author that I would then be obligated to request that the fanfic be taken down in order to protect my own legal rights to my own work.

I don't have any particular axe to grind against fanfic. I've never written any of it myself (I have too many stories of my own in my head that I need to get out), but I don't think fanfic is some horrible, awful thing, either.

If the courts would unequivocally decide that there was no legal risk to the author in permitting fanfic, then I'd have no issue at all with it.

[madtruk.livejournal.com]

Yes. As long as its not for profit and done in a manner which does not injure the original property.

I've recently become very interested in copyright law, and this seems to be a fair use issue.

Again, its the profit motive that matters-ideas are not sacrosanct; making money from them is.

Now, where did I put that Wildcards fanfic I wrote in 88...?