Don't blame the messenger, but under copyright law it is indeed stealing. Most commercial publishers, including Jim Butcher's, have clauses in their contracts requiring the author to defend the infringement of copyright of their works, or the author can get sued by the publisher.
Actually, these days, copyright is very hard to lose period, and 'defending infringement of copyright' is only
incredibly rarely the case. We have Disney to thank for that, probably, though I'd like to add that the Blackberry case was the most stupid and farfetched example of not defending copyright and still winning out in the end. I've been looking around to educate myself a bit more about the legal terms, in spite of my own ethical views on the matter, and have found that most fanfiction defenses try "Fair Use", though not all. The terms considered under fair use by a judge include, but are not limited to or absolutely required:
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposesUnclear here. Fanfiction is not for profit, and it certainly isn't commercial, but saying it's educational would be pushing it unless you were asked to write a 'what happens next' English assignment.
(2) the nature of the copyrighted workAt my best understanding (and obviously, I can be wrong) this is usually more enforced with tangible products and designs than with 'ideas'. There have been some very stupid exceptions, most notably with the Blackberry case.
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a wholeFanfiction literally uses absolutely none of the original manuscript, except for names and places. If we're talking figuratively, someone's going to have to have fun legally defining it. I'm certainly not going to attempt it myself.
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.I couldn't tell you whether there's a professional study that's been done to gauge the effects of fanfiction on market value, but in every bit of my own personal experience, I must say that it can only be a positive thing for someone's works (as a whole, not a single, specified fanfic).
There are problems with the fair use defense, especially as fanfiction isn't all parody, and as most of it is not for any nonprofit organization or for schooling. But using a more ethical thought, instead of a legal one, fair use does seem to sum up exactly
why we have copyright laws - the reasons behind their existence. Almost everything there leads me to believe that a court would absolve a peniless fanfiction writer under fair use. Again, I may be missing something, and
again, people can always surprise you. We all know how wishy-washy the Supreme Court can be about free speech (or we should, if we took our government courses), and a detrimental ruling wouldn't necessarily surprise me if it ever reached them. I do know that lesser courts have ruled both in favor and against fanfiction, at times, but that the 'against' rulings have mostly been in very obviously stupid cases (such as, "I'm going to publish my sequel to this author's novel because mine is BETTER!" - yes, this was an actual case, and the stupid woman lost it, as she should have).
I'm afraid this is a very tenuous argument for my usual standards right now, but I'm currently exhausted and sunburned, and I haven't had near enough time to get you some links and citations, etc. I'd appreciate if you'd gently correct any glaring errors that you catch, and respond as best you can.
To Firegazer, I apologize if my comments seemed judgmental, I did not intend them to be. After reading all of your comments and other postings, I am coming to realize that I am not understanding the communities created around these fanfic sites. I am 'hearing' you say that it is a place where you may share your ideas, that you do not make money from the sites and that it is a place where you can improve your craft.
Oh, I'm almost certain that I overreacted, reading it back over again, and I'll sheepishly apologize for that. It's a very strange thing to be having a polite debate about this after so long, and I honestly appreciate it. I'd absolutely be willing to keep talking with you about things outside here, so I can stop taking up everyone's venting space.
There are people out there who will provide hard numbers for you on how once you have some level of name recognition as a published author, making stuff available for free boosts that recognition in hard sales figures. "The original story being worth exactly what was paid for it" is in some cases provably wrong.
I actually did not know that at all! I find it very interesting and somewhat heartening, in fact. Thanks for sharing it!