Excellent write-up, thank you! I find this, especially, persuasive for option two:
If you say a professional author has the right to use, say, original characters who just happen to show up in a fanfic taking place in their universe in a paid novel without permission, I'm not seeing a whole lot of difference between that and a fanfic author saying that they should be able to professionally publish their fanfic of the professional author's novel.
And, yes, this blithe assumption that of course a fanwriter would and should instantly agree to hand over her plot/text smacks nastily of unthinking exploitation. I find myself equally ticked off over the influence this has had on the commercial publishers' approach to fanfic, which has spread, and actively spread, an appalling amount of misinformation about copyright and a fear and contempt for fans.
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Date: 2010-05-16 08:08 pm (UTC)If you say a professional author has the right to use, say, original characters who just happen to show up in a fanfic taking place in their universe in a paid novel without permission, I'm not seeing a whole lot of difference between that and a fanfic author saying that they should be able to professionally publish their fanfic of the professional author's novel.
And, yes, this blithe assumption that of course a fanwriter would and should instantly agree to hand over her plot/text smacks nastily of unthinking exploitation. I find myself equally ticked off over the influence this has had on the commercial publishers' approach to fanfic, which has spread, and actively spread, an appalling amount of misinformation about copyright and a fear and contempt for fans.