Re: Fan fiction in general was: MOVED from MAIN - "sequels" to the classics

[Carol]

Alla wrote:
>  <snip> But my response to this would be that saying that **fanfic
author** had an idea which creator stole from him, is how to put it
nicely? Obnoxious to the extreme. Without author creating universe and
characters no idea about them would enter the head of the fan in the
first place.

Carol responds:

My sentiments exactly.
> 
Alla:
> Say, some sort of the idea - take LOLLYPOPS again entered the 
> creator's head and fan's head roughly at the same time. Do you think 
> fan's claim that he or she thought of this first should even be 
> entertained?
> 
> Granted, I am speaking not from legal POV here, even though I am a 
> lawyer, I am speaking from what I consider basic consideration 
> towards the author, you know?
> 
> How can one even know when author first thought of it, you know?
<snip>

Caarol responds:

How about dated notes in a Word document? Unfortunately, handwritten
notes and sketches like JKR's can't be precisely dated, unless she
submits photocopies to her publisher in a dated document or refers to
them in a saved and dated e-mail message, but a computer document with
a date on it would provide solid evidence that she had come up with
the idea before the fanfic was published.

But an author shouldn't *have* to provide any such evidence relating
to her own works. As you say, the characters and world that the fanfic
writer is writing about wouldn't even exist if the original author
hadn't created them.

Of course, literary analysis also depends on the original work, but
the goal of the literary critic is to understand the work and present
a possible interpretation that others can agree or disagree with,
whereas fanfic seeks to alter or expand the original work, altering
the characters and their situations in ways that literary analysis
does not. (Of course, analysts can speculate about a character's
motives, but they don't put words into the characters' mouths.)

Carol, noting that reviews and criticism are specifically protected
under "fair use"