Jim's stand on fic?

[DragonFire]

I was fine with that when she was pretending to be a good little catholic girl, but when the sex scenes lasted chapters and I had to call a friend and say "Do they ever get out of bed and back to the plot?" the honeymoon was over.

Yeah....not that the sex is bad...just that there's way too much and it seems, for any reason.

Oh, your son needs to be brought into his power?
He must need to screw Anita.

You need more power to take on your enemies....screw Anita.

Perhaps they should just advertise....."Need more metaphysical muscle? Try Screwing Anita"

[Tribblechomper]

Yeah....not that the sex is bad...just that there's way too much and it seems, for any reason.

Oh, your son needs to be brought into his power?
He must need to screw Anita.

You need more power to take on your enemies....screw Anita.

Perhaps they should just advertise....."Need more metaphysical muscle? Try Screwing Anita"

Want to become a famous author, but lost the talent ages ago?  Just go to the fine folks at Anita Screw....after five chapters of horizontal jumping-jacks, you too can be a famous author just like

(click to show/hide)

(Wasn't thinking

(click to show/hide)

of anyone; just

(click to show/hide)

wanted

(click to show/hide)

to make

(click to show/hide)

you look!)

...Just go to Anita herself and point at the bed and, in your best "I'll take no backtalk from you" voice, say "Anita, screw!"

(Say it out loud to yourself)

[Infamous as Elle!]

Ouch! 

(To be honest, I've always wondered how she can still be so tight?  I would think it'd be like flingin' a hot dog down a hallway by now, even with Micah.)


Easy. It's a book about supernaturals, right? - Mickey

[DragonFire]

Ouch! 

(To be honest, I've always wondered how she can still be so tight?  I would think it'd be like flingin' a hot dog down a hallway by now, even with Micah.)

Well, that's the other thing.
EVERY male she sleeps with is impressively well endowed??

I mean....let's be realistic here.

[Infamous as Elle!]

Ahem, getting back on topic.

How is it that those who write fan fiction can be cracked down on?  I thought that as long as you aren't selling it, there isn't much they can do?

[DragonFire]

Ahem, getting back on topic.

How is it that those who write fan fiction can be cracked down on?  I thought that as long as you aren't selling it, there isn't much they can do?

Technically, you are using someone else's IP.(intellectual property, not Internet protocol) and that's protected under copywrite laws (I believe).

[Infamous as Elle!]

Yet someone can do things like parodies and fan films without being prosecuted.

[DragonFire]

Yet someone can do things like parodies and fan films without being prosecuted.

parodies are allowed under copywrite(again, as far as I know). Fan films..I'm not sure about.

However, whe you write a serious work, using Jim's characters, in his universe, then he can send you a 'cease and desist' letter and sue you if you don't comply.

In reality, unless you are selling it.....it costs him more to do it than he'd likely make from it.

But if he knows about it, he HAS to take some action, or he threatens his own claim to it.

Hence, if you write it, don't talk about it here, and most especially, don't send it to Jim to 'see what he thinks'!

[Infamous as Elle!]

I don't think I could do Dresden any better, unlike another fiction writer who took her characters and turned them into religious freaks who want to become saints and stuff.  (Ahem...yep, I've done a bit of fan fiction writing in my time.) 

It's kind of like learning to draw by copying other people's stuff first.  Eventually the hope is to get good enough to branch off into your own thing.

[Starbeam]

Parodies are safe, although I don't remember exactly how they, and satire, are okay.  That's how you can get away with stuff like Bored of the Rings, Spaceballs, This is Spinal Tap, etc.

As for fan films, the Star Wars fan films have pretty much just become acknowledged by Lucas and therefore allowed.  I never really followed that too much, so I don't know how it went about happening, but I know that around the time the Star Wars celebrations started, Lucas started having the fan film awards.  My guess is that a big part of him allowing it would have to do with up and coming filmmakers and wanting to encourage them.

[Matrix Refugee (formerly Morraeon)]

And then there's Japanese copyright laws which have no qualms about fan-comics (called dojinshi or doujinshi, depending on who's transliterating the word) based off pre-existing anime or manga series, thus you get a wide range of stuff ranging from the interesting-additions-to-the-storyline to wacky parodies to freaky-pr0ny-stuff (don't ask: there are parts of my brain that are irreparably damaged from the awful Neon Genesis Evangelion dojinshi I ran across @.@ ). Not sure about fan-comics inspired by a prose series, but I've seen some eyebrow-raising frames from a Japanese Harry Potter dojinshi. In fact, a number of established manga artists got their head start by producing dojinshi.

[Infamous as Elle!]

Lucas also has a habit of hiring people who make really good fan films.  I think it may be a case of "If you can't beat them, have them join you." 

Clearly there is enough love there from the fans who take the time to try and do something right.  Sometimes there is real craftsmanship and love behind fan based creations.

I know the guy who did the Batman vs. Predator short film ended up with a job on Predator vs. Aliens.

[Infamous as Elle!]

Sometimes I kind of wish they would ease up a bit on fan fiction writers.  You have some really good ones out there that counter balance the really bad ones.

People are going to do it anyway and the lawyers end up sucking more money out of the authors just trying to pursue a cease and desist. 

I could understand if fans were selling the stories but if they're just doing it as an exercise of love and creativity.....bah.

Not like it's going to change anyway.

[Infamous as Elle!]

There are also authors out there who have stood up and said, "Ya know, I know it's out there and I don't mind it."

[Guardian 452]

I've said this before in this forum, and probably will again...

The sad truth about fanfic writers is, like so many other things, it only takes one to ruin it.  Anne McCaffrey initially allowed Pern fanfics, until (as I recall the story) something that was written in one of her novels had been portrayed in a fanfic.  Rather than accepting that she'd simply had the same idea, the fanfic author claimed McCaffrey had copied her and looked into legal action.  In the end, McCaffrey had no choice but to officially demand that no fanfics be done based on her work.

Here's one of the dangers.  If you can write even a halfway decent story and decide to do one based on someone else's work, there's going to be some overlap.  Often times an author foreshadows things well enough that it's easy enough to come up with at least some of what they're going to do!  If people thought "cool, I figured out what they were going to write" then no harm, no foul.  The problem is people who decide they've been robbed and start harassing the author.

I remember a case of a Harry Potter fanfic writer who rewrote the first book from Hermione's POV.  Same story, same characters, different POV.  At the top of the story, that was posted on her website, she listed that she held the copywrite on all characters and the story!  Warner Brothers, who'd just paid a fortune for some of those rights, was somewhat perturbed.

The bottom line is this.  Writing fanfics isn't bad per se.  The problems occur based on what you do with the fanfics, especially in the Internet age.  Sadly, enough fanfic authors have caused the original authors problems (and cost them money) that they have to respond.

Even George Lucas, who has no problem with Star Wars fanfics, has had to stand up at least once.  About a year ago we had a discussion here about "Star Wars: Another Hope".