I'm not in the US, and neither are you. Just because the author resides in the US or the work was published in the US doesn't mean that US law is authoritative or has jurisdiction.

 

What's up with MoR?

If you're using ff.net, then you're hosting your fic in the US. I don't know if that matters in a civil case, but it's worth knowing.

 

Plus both the UK and Canada are more restrictive in this regard than the USA. We have Fair Dealing, not Fair Use. It lets you do much less.

 

Wasn't really thinking about that and I certainly don't want to derail another thread by talking about that.

 

Ah well I couldn't really think of any other fics that have donations attached to them.

@Yak: Look in Hall of Shame for the MoR thread, it's near the end I believe.

No more derailment now, sorry about that.

 

I actually feel the opposite. I have no interest in reading fanfiction authors original fiction, I only read stories based on the connection to the source material. So I do like that it might make someone more likely to want to write fanfiction.


That said, this feels like a pretty bad idea. I like being able to drift in and out of various stories at the click of the mouse, no charge at all. I wouldn't be averse to paying for some select stories, but I probably never would of read them in the first place if I had to pay upfront. I'd be much more comfortable going, awesome story here's X money.

How much would it cost to read anyways?

 

I believe I read that it would cost between $0.99 to $3.99.

Here's a somewhat rhetorical question. I know that authors such as Anne Rice and GRRM have been anti-fanfic. Are there any authors below the age of 40 that ban fanfiction based off of their works? It seems to be more of a generational thing, between those who grew up with the internet and those who didn't.

 

Regarding disclaimers, it's true, they don't matter. I saw a copyright lawyer give a lecture about US copyright law in regards to AMVs and fanfiction. He said that, in fact, disclaimers make things worse, because the penalty for willful and knowing copyright infringement is, if memory serves, 3 times harsher in the US than unknowing copyright infringement. And yea, acknowledging that you don't own the work (like in a disclaimer) is an acknowledgment that you know you're violating copyright by posting it. It's just very fortunate that the big companies have much bigger fish to fry and don't want to risk alienating their fans by cracking down on fanfiction when it doesn't really hurt them that much if at all. As one of my friends said, "Score one for apathy."

Also, another little tidbit - if something's not licensed in the US or wherever but you violate the copyright then it still doesn't matter and you can still be prosecuted because of international treaties. Isn't it fun?

Onto the actual topic. My understanding is that the Amazon terms say that the World-owner will continue to own their universe. However, you own the copyright to any original elements that your story has, (i.e. the world itself, OCs, etc.) - the catch is that by giving it to Amazon to sell, you automatically give the world-owner license to use your original elements as they see fit without any further compensation.

Also, as already mentioned, slashfics, crossovers, and NC-17 content are prohibited. I'm pretty sure other copyrighted material is prohibited (song lyrics, etc). If it's not explicitly stated somewhere then it's probably still true 'cause that would screw up the whole royalties issue even more - which is the reason they don't want crossovers.

Really though, I don't see it taking off very much. From my observations, several big fandoms have copyright owners which aren't very fond of fan-work. For example, I know that the Tolkien estate keeps a tight hold on the LotR stuff, and Disney (which now owns Star Wars for those of you living under a rock) has a history of trying to stomp out fan-works. And then there's the people talking about JKR. While I know she approves of fanfiction, I"m not sure what her reaction to this would be...

Anyway, while it's a nice thought on Amazon's part, my reaction is more along the lines of "Don't mess with my fanfiction, dammit!"

 

There are some, mostly those with contracts with the conventional, big publishing houses and who have read the horror stories of authors being sued when their stories have elements in common with fanfiction stories. Many are inclined to listen and defer to the older, wiser masters (GRRM was a fixture in the Northern New Mexico speculative fiction circles; also, the gray-beards on pro writing boards like OWW collectively despise fanfiction).

 

I knew about treble damages in regards to patent infringement, but didn't realise that it extended to copyright law as well. Damn, that's harsh.

 

Your post says "No" but your username says "Yes."

Brace yourselves for the waves of people who plagiarize available fics, in order to make money off whatever they cobble together from them for the paid fan fic market.

My initial reaction is, "Fuck every last ounce of this shit."

That garbage isn't fan fic, anyway; it's lazy plagiarism.

Frankly, I think "free" fan fiction is nothing but a boon to the authors who own the respective properties. Fandoms feed on themselves. The more interest there is in the property, the more active the fandom will be, the more active the fandom is, the more interest there is in both the property and the fandom.

Authors should shudder at the loss of momentum in a fandom, and the amount of new fics being made are a fairly direct measure of that momentum. Is an author directly making money off fan fic? No, but I would argue that they ARE still indirectly benefiting from its existence.

When people lose interest in writing fic, it's because their enthusiasm for the property has cooled, and I can't help but believe that also translates into fewer sales of posters, figurines, book markers, limited edition prop replicas, jewelry, plush toys, coffee mugs, the anniversary editions of the books, action figures, pillows, bedding, candy, and the list goes on.

And, when a fandom is told that the man-eating lawyers will come after them if they try to share their fan fic- When the fandom is basically told they aren't allowed to engage in this activity that is essentially a free and nearly self-perpetuating interest-generating machine, enthusiasm for the author's "brand" is going to drop. Revenue is going to drop.

I'm no economist or marketing expert or anything, but I can't help but think that a healthy fan fic community is a great boon to any author, especially one who is selling more than just the books, themselves. The more heavily merchandized their books/movies are, the more it behooves them to allow the fan fic community to generate an enthusiasm that can translate into hunger for their official merchandise.



That's not even touching the fact that crossover fan fic introduces readers to books, movies, TV shows, plays, comics, et cetera that they wouldn't have otherwise known of or bothered to purchase, sight unseen. There are some series I had zero knowledge of, nor would I have bothered to spend money on them even if I'd been nominally aware of their existence, had I not found out about them and/or got interested in them via Harry Potter fan fiction, first.

The irony: One specific series I'm thinking of, in this instance, is one where the author said, "No fan fiction!" But, I'd never have touched the 20+ paperbacks I have of her work, had I not first discovered them through HP crossover fan fic.

 

I've heard that the reason that ASoIaF ends up so all over the place and shitty is because GRRM is terrified of fanfiction writers suing him for stealing the plot from fanfiction, so he deliberately makes the plotlines something that FF couldn't guess.

I don't know how true it is, but as a theory it definitely explains the later books.

 

Like I said, score one for apathy, eh? I guess the gist of that part of the guy's lecture was that fanfic is indeed illegal, but the typical copyright owner doesn't see it to be in their best interests to stamp it out. Exceptions being people like Terry Goodkind or GRRM.

Let me guess.... McCaffery's Dragonriders of Pern? If so, then I think she later clarified before her passing that she just didn't want people using her characters, but people can use her world as they see fit. I don't have a source for that at the moment though, it's just something I remember being told...

If that wasn't it, then, well, whoops.

 

MILESTONES FOR THIS BULLSHIT:

The first time someone steals someone else's story and publishes it.
The first time a published story is put on FFN by someone who isn't the author.
The first time a beta demands a cut.
The first time an 'inspired by' demands a cut.
The first time someone cuts an incomplete fanfiction off abruptly to start selling it and promises a sequel that never comes.

The first C&D that the DLP Archive gets.

 

A corporation comes in and wants to regulate and profit from fanfiction? How on Earth can that lead to anything good? Give them an inch and they'll take a mile.

 

Even the fanfic author won't be able to do that. Amazon Publishing has an exclusive license to the fic. If it's on Amazon, then you won't be posting it here or anywhere else.

I could be wrong. Does "exclusive license" means something else as a legal term? Budding lawyers chip in.

 

Oh right, silly me. I forgot that it was impossible to put something on the internet if it wasn't legal to do so.

 

Sure, you can, but people reading it freely online arguably creates "lost sales". Financial losses. Do you really expect Amazon Publishing or the canon author, who would both ordinarily profit from those sales, to take that lying down?

Why would people pay Amazon $1-4 for a fic when they can read it for free on fanfiction.net? I often use a converter to turn ff.net fics into ebooks for reading on the go. Thus the exclusive license. If you post your Amazon fic on fanfiction.net, I'd be very surprised not to at least receive a warning to remove it, or a C&D sent to ff.net.

 

Of course it'd get C&D'd. Hence why it'd be a milestone. Fanfiction being removed from FFN due to legal action from someone who's making a profit off of it.

Riddle me this: if you make and publish fanfiction of a fanfiction, who gets a cut?