Authors' moral responsibility (was Re: OOTP net book copy?????????)

[Tim Regan]

Hi All,

--- "psychic_serpent" wrote: 
> someone (maybe more than one someone?) has uploaded 
> this onto Kazaa sites with the altered title, "Harry Potter and 
the 
> Order of the Phoenix."  I have not been credited as the author and 
> the folks who contacted me said they did a web search to find out 
> who'd written it.  


> It is 
> in fact meant for older readers, rather than young kids (I've 
rated 
> it R

Ages ago we had a discussion of slash fanfiction, particularly in 
light of JKR's lawyers trying to close down adult HP slash 
fanfiction sites (at least that's how I remember it). The consensus 
seemed to be that as long as the fiction was correctly marked (e.g. 
rated R or mature) no harm's done. But the incident above shows just 
how easily electronic media can be misappropriated. Clearly the 
baddy in the story is whoever copied psychic_serpent's work onto 
Kazaa without its author or rating intact. 

But in light of this, do fanfic authors have a moral responsibility 
not to use children's book characters in sexual or violent 
situations since they cannot control the distribution of their work?

Cheers,

Dumbledad.