I ran across an interesting article by a publishing author about fanfic. This quote made me chuckle...

"Walk the streets of Florence and you'll find a copy of the David on practically every corner. For centuries, the way to become a Florentine sculptor has been to copy Michelangelo, to learn from the master. Not just the great Florentine sculptors, either — great or terrible, they all start with the master; it can be the start of a lifelong passion, or a mere fling. The copy can be art, or it can be crap — the best way to find out which kind you've got inside you is to try."
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The writer is comparing fanfic authors to sculptors copying the "David".
He goes on to discuss authors who dislike or feel threatened by fanfic being written about their work. It is a great article. I would love to see what you all think about it.

-Telmah

The full article is here: http://www.locusmag.com/Features/2007/05/cory-doctorow-in-praise-of-fanfic.html

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If you think about it, all the famous Greek tragedies were just "fanfics" of popular legends and such.

 

I didn't read the article yet, but I like the analogy with Florentine sculptors.

However I believe it doesn't match fanfiction entirely. There is one question that popped up in my mind at once:

Spoiler

Are there any fan-sculptures on display portraying two Davids involved in hot butt secks?

 

the answer is 'Probably'

Art is, in and of it's self, as open to interpretation and therefore perversion as Everything else. If I were to ask you

Spoiler

was a frozen banana originally intended to be used as a dildo

could you honestly answer 'yes'?

As with everything else, its what the end user decides to do with it, not what the originator intended it to be used for.

 

More lines from the article

another great quote from the article...

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to get paid for writing fanfic? Thank you fanfic writers for sharing your time and talent for free!

 

You forget that Doujinshi actually cost money to print; they need good paper, ink, the actual printing process...

Most doujin writers don't make much of any money, though that's looking to change with the increase of market size.

Keyword most.