As I understand it, the legality of fanfiction is rather ambiguous, but I know that the administration likes to err on the side of caution, particularly in matters relating to copyright violation.
I’m not asking for strict guidelines, but I guess I’d like to know if there’s a strong feeling one way or the other.
not giving much help, but…
[opinion]
You would for sure have to provide a link back to the story. It’s posted on the web for a reason… to attract readers and if they want the thread gone, they simply have to ask the SDMB. It would probably be polite to give them an email saying you’re discussing it here, so they can get the reactions from people. It’s no difference than people discussing Scylla’s blimp thread – with the difference that they posted the thing entirely, which, obviously, you would not do.
[/opinion]
This, of course, might be an opinion throw out rather easily by SDMB’s copyright views.
just my $.02 of extras added in.
/Shadez
Er, okay. Well that’s a consideration that I hadn’t even thought of. What I meant to refer to was the fact that fanfiction is considered by some to be a violation of the intellectual property rights of the author of the original story.
Well, if you do all the disclaimers… I highly doubt any of the TV shows, movie directors, etc are going to come after you for discussing the spinoff of an original. They would have bigger fish to fry, and I would be much more worried about the fanfiction author’s rights/reactions. The original writers kind of expect this to go on, otherwise www.fanfiction.net would not be legal.
Interestingly, the site says this:
The fanfiction presented at the site seems to have copyright issues at well, thus, since the site itself is worried about the copyright of the people who write stories off of TV shows, etc, you should be too. And like I said previously: if the TV and movie thought it was copyright abuse, none of the fanfiction sites would be legal. Thus, you should worry more about the fanfiction authors.
/Shadez
I am aware of everything you say, but it’s probably good that you bring it up, for the uninformed.
I don’t write fanfiction, but if I did, I would not fear prosecution one iota. Nor do I expect that any internet fanfiction writers fear it. I also agree that people whose right may be being infringed have little reason to worry about it, and they do have bigger fish to fry.
However, I don’t think that you can say with 100% certainty that it’s all legal. And since the people who run this board tend to be pretty conservative about this sort of thing, this strikes me as a case where they’d want to be at least somewhat careful. My ultimate question is not one of legality, but one of board policy.
Right now, my answer is sorta like consulting the Magic 8-Ball: “reply hazy. Ask again later.”
But I will try to get a better answer for you.
I’ve seen several different sites for fanfiction. Some have author cooperation (Katherine Kurtz and Deryni Destination comes to mind), some are just ignored, and some have heavy litigation (Hello, Paramount!). Whatever the degree of interaction, the stories still flow, get posted. Some even get published. (See Katherine Kurtz again, who has no problem with people using her ideas/characters/stories, as long as SHE gets paid. Which seems fair.)
Lemme see if I can get a legal opinion on this and I’ll get back to you.
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
Thank you! And take your time, please. I’m satisfied as long as I know you’re considering it.
Here’s our ruling on the subject:
Absent any clear legal guidance, our policy should be that we don’t object to mere discussion of fanfiction, nor to mention of fanfiction sites having the sanction of the author; however, we do ask users to be mindful of the prerogatives of authors and to refrain from posting fanfiction or otherwise participating in fanfiction sites if the author objects.
Hope this settles the issue. Thank you for being so patient.
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
Not at all. Thank you. 