[HPforGrownups] Speaking of copyrights...

[Carole Estes]

No: HPFGUIDX 9567


----- Original Message -----
From: "Amy" <alw at wilsonllp.com>

> So...here's my question...is it just different in the book fandom world?
I was completely floored when I saw that fanfiction was mentioned in the
merchandise guide and I seem to recall fanfic being mentioned in an article
or two, but I could be wrong about that.
>
> Just curious...
>
> Amy (the other one...as usual, there are lots of Amy's on the list<G>)

>From what I've been told (see Heidi for the expert...and she's writing
fanfic...) it has to do with making money off the writing.  Those of us
fanfic writers are doing it just for pleasure and the entertainment of
others (well there are ulterior motives as well).  We don't ever dream about
making money off any of our work.  We don't charge for people reading our
work and most of us place some sort of disclaimer at the top of the fic
stating the characters used in the fic are (mostly) not our own...although
some of us do lay claim to original characters. We mainly get paid in
reviews and the chance to steer the characters according to our own personal
vision.

This is why you'll probably never see (as someone suggested a couple of
posts ago) a paperback version of the best of HP fanfics.  It would get very
complicated very quickly regarding who got to profit from an
endeavor....plus it could never be just one book.  PoU alone is 15 chapters,
DD and DS could each be a book, and ASA is headed that direction as well...
I've printed out most of my favorites and they sit in three ring binders on
my bookcase.

Hope Penny or Heidi states this more concisely and includes concepts I
missed.

carole