Libraries, Cons, McCaffrey, Rowlings, Derivative Works, Trademarks, fan fiction (was Re: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: GWTW Fanfic Provokes Lawsuit

[nera at rconnect.com]

WOW ! I think you ought to copy this and post it on HP4GU too.
Doreen



--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "Rosmerta" <tmayor at m...> wrote:
> I'm utterly reluctant to get into this because my knowledge is so 
> inconsequential compared to the obviously vast knowledge of the 
> fanfic fans conversing below (michela and jim et al) but let me 
play 
> the naif and respond.....
> 
> > Jim Ferer wrote:
> I''m guessing that some of the authors you name have the
> > > zero-tolerance policy because of 1) Worry for legal 
entanglments 
> such
> > > as those I mentioned or you mention below, 2) Fear their 
> reputation
> > > will be diluted by fanfiction of varying quality, or 3) 
Irritation
> > > like that Niven felt.
> > 
> Might they also be offended that fanfic is, as we used to say in 
> Junior High, "ripping off" their creations? I can understand in 
fans 
> the interest, the obsession (using the term in a nonderogatory 
way), 
> the wondering (hmm, what *if* Draco wore leather? What *if* 
> Harry/Hermione? What *if* Sirius slashed Remus?), even the desire 
to 
> get the wonderings down on paper (or digitally). 
> 
> But at that moment when you, as the would-be fanfic author, sit 
down 
> at the PC and begin to type, what are you feeling? If you aren't 
> stealing the creation of the very author that you profess to admire 
> the most, then what is it (or borrowing, or appropriating, or 
> whatever term you want to use)? 
> 
> When your author is conveniently dead or no longer writing, it's 
easy 
> to ignore those questions. But what if the author is not only still 
> writing, but still writing *the thing you're deriving from*, a la 
> JKR? At best, it seems like this might be interpreted as a kind of 
> literary drumming-your-fingers-on-the-table-while-you-wait, which 
is 
> not the best manners, but it could just as easily be seen as 
> finishing the sentences before they're out of her mouth. What is it 
> that makes some people want to finish off those ps and qs, with 
> various levels of success, while other people simply discuss 
rabidly 
> or chat intermittently or patiently read other things in the 
interim? 
> 
> And with all the efforts of various emotional and physical kinds 
that 
> go into writing anything, fanfic very much included, how does it 
feel 
> when it's all over to have written something that is derivitive in 
> the literal sense, derived from someone *else's* brainchild? With a 
> little more effort (okay, a LOT more, since the initial genius 
spark 
> is the biggest thing) couldn't you be writing your own "stuff?" And 
> if you did write your own stuff, would you truly truly in your 
heart 
> of hearts be nothing but overjoyed that people felt comfortable 
> making your creation jump to their own tunes? That's asking a lot 
of 
> anyone, never mind an artist. 
> 
> 
> Michela mentions "Brenda Atrim is "famous" in about five fandoms and
> > most everyone I know who knows of her has a deep respect for 
her." 
> 
> If she's so wonderful (and again, please remember I am playing the 
> devil's advocate here.....) why isn't she writing her own original 
> material? I'm just wondering what fanfic authors *feel* when they 
> pour what is obviously some heartfelt effort into something that is 
> ultimately not purely their own work? 
> 
> Is this some sort of collective self-esteem issue (said somewhat 
> joking, but with a tinge of seriousness)? Or I'm wondering maybe if 
> it has to do with some sort of sliding scale on the inhererent 
rights 
> of authors and other creators (and I'm not talking legal rights 
here 
> but moral and/or inspirational). I write--hell, I'm a professional 
> writer if you mean that I do it full time and get paid for it--but 
I 
> would never, ever cross that line into using anyone else's 
material, 
> nonfiction or fiction, ever. In addition to feeling that it's a 
slam 
> on the author, I would feel like it's a slam on me, i.e., either do 
> what she's doing better than she can or get out of the way and let 
> her do her thing. 
> 
> In talking about authors' general tolerance/intolerance to fanfic, 
> there was some discussion about less commercial authors 
that "needed" 
> to keep a fan base happy by either endorsing or at least not 
legally 
> discouring fanfic, games, etc., culminating in James' question 
> of "Why bother to read the Harry Potter
> > books when you can read fan fiction that is really really good on-
> line?" 
> 
> Just have to shed a little light of reality on that statement....I 
> think the reason people keep paying for Harry Potter books rather 
> than reading fanfic free online is simply that the real books are 
> better than the derivitives. 
> 
> Which leads to Michela's observation...."For > my paper on book fan 
> fiction, I asked people in a chat room I hang out > in WHY they 
don't 
> read the Harry Potter books.  The ones who didn't read
> > it, by and large, cited the Harry Potter fan fiction they'd run 
> across > on fanfiction.net ...[as] reflecting so poorly on the 
works 
> and the fans that the books must suck." 
> 
> Okay: people can choose to read what they do for whatever reason 
they 
> choose, but to avoid a book simply because the fanfic derivitives 
> suck is completely upside-down-and-backwards logic and one big, 
deep 
> and long argument for "pro authors" (as Michela calls them) 
avoiding 
> fanfic like the plague. 
> 
> Which leads to my very last question: why is fanfic limited by and 
> large to genre? I'm not seeing the JM Coetzees of the world being 
> rewritten or The English Patient being fanfictionalized. Why is 
that? 
> Is that because the Pulitzer/Booker/Nobel caliber stuff isn't 
> derivable (is that a word? You know what I mean, I hope) in the 
sense 
> that those works are utterly complete and unrevisably themselves, 
> whether you liked them or not?  Someone posted something a long 
time 
> ago on the main list that suggested fanfic was around to fill in 
the 
> holes in the primary work......is HP fanfic around mostly because 
> it's still a work in progress? 
> 
> ~Rosemerta, who now really has asked all the questions she has on 
> this topic