ON the other hand, it allows young writers to explore the art of writing itself, learning how to put stories together with solid plot lines and engaging scenes, without the worry of creating an entire world around it as well. Its very much like aspiring artists copying their favorite works. Painters are encouraged to make reproductions of master paintings, they're encouraged to go see them and inspect how the artist made their strokes, how the paint flowed onto the canvas, and to try and reproduce that... through this kind of repetition an artist can discover who their greatest inspirations are, who they wish to emulate and be influenced by.

It also fills a gap left by the writer when they can't produce quality work at a pace with the appetites of their readers. I don't think any reader believes that the fanfic stories are where the franchise is going to really go in the future, but it gives them a small piece of something to tide them over until the real thing arrives. It keeps the original author fresh in the minds of the readers, it keeps them relevant.

Any writer that has someone writing fanfic based on their work should be honored that anyone would bother.

 

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Copyright law gives the copyright holder full control over reproduction, distribution, and derivatives of his/her works.

Now, whether it's a derivative or a parody would be the question. But beyond that, if somebody wanted to write fan fiction on one of my works, I would be fking flattered.

 

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i don't have to worry about supporting possible copyright infringement because i would not read it.

To an extent - yes, musicians, painters, etc, study from and draw inspiration from great artists that came before them: and are often tasked with trying to emulate the creation as a form of understanding it. And a number of masterful artists openly discuss their heroes and the giants that came before them that they drew inspiration from: however, they became skilled and acclaimed by making a work their own. Lots of singers did Hallelujah before Jeff Buckley - and he certainly didn't write it: but he absolutely made it his own.

Also, as a matter of course, students and aspiring artists are doing something much different that Fan Fic writers - they aren't publishing their works, and I really think that's where the fine line is. Fan Fictions couldn't exist if they weren't broadcast, but rather turned in for review or shared within a writers group or whatnot for inputs. Otherwise it would be called a project or more aptly: homework.

 

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Didn't this come up a few years ago when a fan of J K Rowling wrote an atlas/creature appendix for her Potter series and she put the kaibosh on it?

 

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that's not exactly fan fiction

 

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Martin is such an enormous douche.

It's such a strange thing for him to be against, as his Wild Cards series was essentially created by fan fiction, although I guess since the "fans" in question included a number of well known authors, that made it all right or something....

For the record, I don't think fan fiction is copyright infringement and also think any author against it is probably a jerk. Fan fiction can certainly be a way for aspiring authors to hone their ability and, if they happen to be fans of talented authors, learn how to write.

Serious fan fiction is technically a copyright infringement, since it's not meant as a parody/satire. There are definitely some fanfics that would fall under the parody umbrella, though.

That being said, I personally view it like some others do- I'd be highly flattered if people were writing fanfic based off my books.

 

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It's not good. Make up your own damned story and stop biting off other people's work.

On the other hand, IT MIGHT BE THE ONLY DAMN WAY WE WILL SEE GAME OF THRONES FINISHED!!!

The Marion Zimmer Bradley incident scared a lot of authors into fearing that fan fic authors could wrestle some of intellectual property rights away from the original author