What is up with songfics? - The Official Rant Board Forum

Topic: What is up with songfics?

what fucking ever.

#1 Sep 30th 2007, 11:02am . Edited Jan 20th, 5:10pm

Songfics are allowed!

straight from the guidelines:

Actions not allowed:

1. Multiple entries of the same material. There can only be one copy of any unique story on the entire site. No exceptions.

2. Rewriting names of characters/locations of one story in order to upload to multiple categories.

3. Copying from a previously published work ( including musical lyrics ) not in the public domain .

It is allowed! They were even going to make lyrics an exception, they never had a problem with using lyrics except for this rule! They just don't allow work that's not allowed in fanfiction, works of authors and artists who specifically asked them not to!

#2 Sep 30th 2007, 12:57pm . Edited Sep 30th 2007, 1:05pm

Oh my mistake then....guess that makes this argument finished with.

#3 Sep 30th 2007, 4:48pm

dartigen

From what I know, so long as you put a disclaimer in, you're cool.

What I hate more is when people say something's a songfic, but there's no song in there, or it's a really crappy song. Especially if it's a pop song. *shudders* I HATE POP MUSIC.

As per my profile, I prefer to write music video scripts as opposed to songfics, although No Name is probably going to be a songfic (if I can ever stop sobbing enough to actually get around to finishing it; I'm easily made emotional by music, Metallica's Unforgiven had me crying for the entire song and then some), and Welcome Home (Sanitarium) is a semi-songfic, but I write them in the view of the song not really being an essential part of the fic - it just happens to be a part of the scene.

And although I don't hate it (as I'm heavily biased in music), I do like it when authors are considerate enough to at least tell me the song's artist. And I try to make sure that I put links onto my profile for the songs, for everyone who doesn't know it and is confused byt the scripts.

#4 Oct 10th 2007, 2:16am

Mad Red Queen

I like to add song lyrics in with certain chapters- I think that since music's always been an important part of my life, my work should reflect that- although I've NEVER (and I swear to god that it had better be pretty damn good song & tie in so well with the story that it's seamless) written whole stories with lyrics in every part of it, I add a song lyric here or there- especially at the beginning & end of stories. People usually say that the song lyrics I add actually make sense in the context of the stories. But I do try to not overload people- and I always say who wrote it and what the song's called. So, I think I'm cool in this respect. I... hope. :)

#5 Oct 10th 2007, 1:14pm

FF.net doesn't require disclaimers for anything. The songs are in the public domain so it's covered for being written in fanfiction. There is no need to write disclaimers at all.

I like pop, I kind of like music with beat, and stuff. Yeah I don't get it either when they say songfic, and there is no song. I like to put links

to the music in my profile and put the lyrics in my songfic, it's awesome like that, except then you have to change the writing to equal the timing of the music, which isn't easy at all. I did that with my last fic.

#6 Oct 11th 2007, 2:34pm . Edited Oct 11th 2007, 2:35pm

Zippie

Just to set the record (no pun intended) straight:

Public domain comprises the body of knowledge and innovation (especially creative works such as writing, art, music, and inventions) in relation to which no person or other legal entity can establish or maintain proprietary interests within a particular legal jurisdiction. This body of information and creativity is considered to be part of a common cultural and intellectual heritage, which, in general, anyone may use or exploit, whether for commercial or non-commercial purposes. About 15 percent of all books are in the public domain, including 10 percent of all books that are still in print.

This means that anything that is copyrighted is not in the public domain.

This means that song lyrics that are copyrighted are not in the public domain.

This means that song fics that include copyrighted musical lyrics are not allowed.

If you want to use copyrighted musical lyrics in your fics, then you need to obtain the written permission of the copyright owner to do so. Failure to obtain permission opens up the author and FFnet to being sued by the owner of the copyright. Just because other people do it will be no protection against legal action if one of the copyright owners decides to sue.

Hope that clears things up for you. :)

#7 Oct 16th 2007, 12:35pm . Edited Oct 16th 2007, 2:58pm

Zippie

I just came across this on Wikipedia:Restrictions on format

Around the same time as the ban on NC-17 rated fan fiction, FanFiction.net banned fan fiction written in script format. Some authors who wrote in script format moved to other sites that accept script format. A small percentage of authors continue to write in script format.

In 2005, FanFiction.net banned songfics from being posted on the site due to potential legal action from copyright holders of lyrics. Public domain lyrics such as those to "Amazing Grace" or lyrics written by the author of the fan fiction are not directly addressed. Despite this, as of July 3rd 2007, there are currently over 30,000 summaries containing the word 'songfic' (though this may possibly be used in the context of "not a songfic").

In 2006, FanFiction.Net banned the incorporation of responses to reviews in subsequent story chapters and instead created a way to respond to reviews via private messages to the reviewers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanfiction.net

#8 Oct 24th 2007, 12:18am

Tranquil Anarchy

Charming...

So some publishing companies have suddenly decided "Hey, lets sue some random ameteur writer for using our lyrics". Don't they have better things to do? And what harm is it doing? So long as no profit is made, I don't see how this is an issue for companies.

#9 Oct 25th 2007, 12:32am

dartigen

Exactly. This is not the only place where it happens - ABS has many music videos utilising copyrighted images, lyrics and etc., but nobody;s sued ABS yet. Why? It's a free site. It's actually (I believe) against the site rules at Albino Blacksheep to attempt to make any kind of profit from work posted there.

Second example: music videos made from movies and such. Anyone here seen the DBZ music videos? Have any artists or record companies sued yet? No. Have any TV companies sued yet? No. Why? It's not being used for profit.

Third example: At my ex's school, they have an audio editing suite. He's used to to experiment with remixing songs. He passes the good remixes out to his friends, and he hasn't been sued. Why? He's not charging money for it.

And anyway, there's a reason why we all slap disclaimers on our stories, and that's it: none of us (I think) have the money for legal costs, or being sued.

#10 Oct 25th 2007, 2:25am

Kamejen

Keep in mind, though, that artists HAVE told Youtube to pull videos off of their site when they have their stuff in them. Anime is a classic example of that (try keeping an AMV on youtube for more than a week nowadays... with certain anime companies, it's like they have headhunters looking for any and all references to their works). I would imagine musicians have done the same thing. :/

#11 Oct 25th 2007, 9:53am

Zippie

They did the same thing with clips from the third PotC movie. They were up less than a day before Youtube pulled them because Disney kicked up a fuss.

#12 Oct 25th 2007, 10:10am

Charming...

They don't go and sue the author personally....they do not sue at all, unless the administrater of this website refuses to get rid of the fic.

You see, songs...as in notes, guitar riffs/tabs and lyrics are COPYRIGHTED, which means you cannot use any of those without that certain companies'/publishers permission. It does not matter if you get any profit or not.

It's the law.

#13 Oct 25th 2007, 12:16pm

Cranberry Window

The companies issue is that you are using the song to attract attention and credit for the fic because of the song, not so much money. They don't like that, because technically you didn't put your own effort into it. The songs belong to them, so it would be a bit like plagiarizing from another author on ff net. And as Blur said, it's the law. If you don't want lawyers breathing down your or ff net admin's necks, just don't do it.

I know people that will read and praise the fic purely because the song is in it, rather than the actual quality of the fic. And that's pathetic.

#14 Oct 26th 2007, 3:13pm

Kamejen

I think their biggest issue isn't with the writer getting any credit. It's that if people read that writer's work, they might associate it with the song. Since the company (and the artist) didn't approve the joining of the two, then it might not portray the song as accurately as it was intended. Anyway, that's one other argument for it, but the bottom line is that the law is the law, and if anyone DID decide to pursue legal action against FF.net for it, they'd have us dead to rights. :p

#15 Oct 29th 2007, 9:48am

Aislynn Crowdaughter

n 2005, FanFiction.net banned songfics from being posted on the site due to potential legal action from copyright holders of lyrics.

Well, at least that is a reasonable reason: to protect the site. So, technically, if I went to the trouble to write my own songs, or filk, and had the characters break out into this filk at random in the story (as in the typical musical), it would be allowed. Although the story would probably be no less crappy for it (sorry, I do not like musicals, much... obviously.)

#16 Oct 30th 2007, 3:11pm

Silver Faction

Frankly, I think it's a wonderful idea banning songfics. Talk about a waste of space in a story. It is not physically possible to convey the emotional attachments a writer has for a song in his/her story. If this were the case, music would not exist at all, we would just have poetry and the like. It's like that saying, 'a picture is worth a thousand words.' A song or musical piece tied to a strong emotion or memory cannot be put to words.

#17 Jan 22nd, 10:45pm

LazyChestnut

I'll admit, I have a song-fic-ish fic. It involves lyrics from the Revolutionary War, but I would hope it's more of an introspective than a songfic.

What I really hate is when people use, say, The Eagles for a Troy fic. I actually know a really good writer, but she has a horrific amount of songfics, and she says at the beginning of most: "Well, I heard this song, and I tried to incorporate it with (insert pairing), so here it is!"

...

I didn't know that you HAD to try and write a fic. What a noob I am, thinking fanfiction was for FUN!

#18 Feb 28th, 8:30pm

Dying Rose on The Vine

I have a staight up song fic- It makes me smile everytime I read it, but all my reviews are like "Nice try". Which traslates too "You tried, go away loser" XD A-well, people take their Dragon Ball Z Seriously---with a capital S!

#19 Apr 13th, 11:32am

CoolDiva

I know I love songfics and just wish more than anything that the site permitted them.

#20 Apr 13th, 6:43pm

CoolDiva

I know you have to follow rules, but, I can't stand when someone is hateful and report you for writing a songfic. Just to be hateful. Not that it makes much difference- seeing as how the people in charge never really seem to solve problems anyway.

#21 Apr 13th, 6:46pm

For me, I wouldn't report it to be hateful, I'd report it because for one thing, it's the law. And you have to follow the terms of service.

#22 Apr 13th, 8:22pm

CoolDiva

That's true. It's just that, from what I understand, reporting anything is usually a waste of time. I say that because so many people complain about the people in charge never taking any real action.

#23 Apr 13th, 8:30pm

Aislynn Crowdaughter

For me, I wouldn't report it to be hateful, I'd report it because for one thing, it's the law. And you have to follow the terms of service.

Except the guidelines say that you have to respect your fellow writers, too (which excludes spamming them with hate 'reviews' and flaming), and look how many flamers and spam reviewers do not follow this rule, either.

I will report stories (and reviews) only for one reason: if the content hurts anybody. That is the case when the fics are plagiarized, or include hate speech, or are clearly spam or advertisements; or, on this site, if they have graphic adult content without proper warning. Songfics may be annoying, when the only content that really was added by the 'author' are a few lines between the lines of the song; but up to that point, they do not hurt anybody. They can be taken down if the owner of the lyrics demand it. Until then, why do the Music Industry's work?

This is a fanfiction site. It would not exist if we would abstain from using any copyrighted content for our fics. Songs are no different in that regard, IMHO.

#24 Apr 13th, 11:18pm

Dying Rose on The Vine

Agreed! In fact, saying something is off limits due to a copyrighted stuff is almost stupid. That's like saying...something. Ah, that sentence got away from me. ^_^ You shouldn't start topics by swearing, it makes you look crude.

#25 Apr 14th, 3:29pm

Agreed! In fact, saying something is off limits due to a copyrighted stuff is almost stupid.

It's the law.....I just can't get get any clearer than that. And when there's a law, you follow it.

#26 Apr 14th, 4:34pm

Agreed! In fact, saying something is off limits due to a copyrighted stuff is almost stupid.

I agree too. It's a ridiculous rule, no real purpose or point, a pointless rule! Especially when songs are no different from books or other materials. Youtube used to allow songs but now they are removing some of them too. Who can wreck a song that isn't theirs? How can one wreck another's song when wrecking involves changing the material it doesn't belong to them? And clearly we cannot change another's material! It's just a draconian law(hence fanfiction rule)that flamers enjoy reporting because they're uptight & they think they're the new law. Or they're using to make an excuse for flaming.

It stinks, 2 of my stories are not allowed because of it!(upside I gave those stories away) Grr! One of them beinga nice parody. The other I can make do without lyrics... Grrrness

#27 Apr 15th, 4:13pm . Edited Apr 15th, 4:15pm

It's that if people read that writer's work, they might associate it with the song. Since the company (and the artist) didn't approve the joining of the two, then it might not portray the song as accurately as it was intended. Anyway, that's one other argument for it, but the bottom line is that the law is the law, and if anyone DID decide to pursue legal action against FF.net for it, they'd have us dead to rights. :p

Yet this is fanfiction, everything here is merged, chopped, redone. Why should songs be any different? Books, poetry, shows, comics, anime, and movies are often associated with what they are not meant to be associated with. Such as in crossovers and parodies. I think it's a draconian law. It would be one thing if people were trying to get rights to merge songs and they did not approve. But no one here is taking credit for the songs they use. It's like someone using lyrics for their own use in IRL.

#28 Apr 15th, 4:24pm

No it's not draconian at all. Would you like it if someone took your work and copied it into their work without asking your permission? Even if they credited you, what if they modified it so it misrepresented what you said? If your income depended on selling your creative works, would you like it if someone made copies of what you published and sold them at a cheaper price, undercutting you?

Copyright laws are their to protect authors' income and their reputation. While I disagree with the changes to copyright laws that have been taking place (like increasing the length of time before it expires), the basic concept has served society well.

There are some things you can do, though. Copyright laws allow for certain exceptions. You can for instance copy excerpts for the purpose of review, or you can incorporate short quotes into your work, provided you cite the source (i.e., you explain where it came from and who the author was).

Copyright allows you to quote a few lines from a song if you think that adds something to your story or if it provides the inspiration for your story, but duplicating the entire text is illegal.

Mind you every songfic I've read has bored me, so I am glad that ffnet have come down on this practice even from an artistic viewpoint.

#29 May 02nd, 2:43pm

Yeah it is.

YOu do realize I'm talking about fanfiction here which already allows you do to dall you've said with authors and scriptwriter's works? What's the difference with songs?

And no one's talking about taking credit for their work or actually changing it. Once again fanfiction meaning no one owns any of this work. But we only wish to use songs to write fanfiction as we do with other works of literature adn stuff.

And maybe it's bored you, but I saw some fics which were interesting so it's a matter of taste. And I for one am not glad they have banned this unnecessarily.

Especially when fanfiction.net itself is a disclaimer against owning any work of others that is used in fanfiction writing.

#30 May 05th, 8:46pm

You make two valid points.

Firstly, yes, I concur, songfics are a matter of taste. The trouble I find is that music is a very personal thing and the lyrics another person cites rarely click with me. Also without the music the song doesn't usually have the same effect. If you have found some songfics that have appealed to you, however, then that's great.

Secondly, what is the legal difference between fan fiction and songfics? Well I'm not sure about the legal status of fan fiction. Interestingly, copyright law allows for parodies of an original work, but other derived works infringe. To what extent is copying a copyrighted work's setting, a character, a name (unless in a parody fic) infringement I don't know. This site covers itself by letting the creator decide. If a copyright owner or author objects, it won't allow derived works. By not objecting, there might be some legal precedent to say that they have implicitly given their permission and it would make their suing fanfiction.net (or us) harder.

However, if you went and copied a chapter of The Prisoner of Azkaban and incorporated it into your story, then I'd be surprised if any court in any Berne signatory that would rule in your favour. Likewise, if you copy the lyrics of an entire song! The difference is that in fan fiction, you're not explicitly copying the form and expression of creativity (what copyright protects), making it a somewhat gray even if dubious. In a songfic, you are copying the form and expression of creativity, making it blatant infringement.

For this site, allowing songfics would be like a bomb waiting to go off. All it takes is one copyright holder to take offense at what someone did with their property and sue the pants off fanfiction.net for damages, and we all lose big time. So take my advice and stick to the rule!

#31 May 06th, 3:12am

Yeah it is. Yet songfics are in writting here so the background music is out of the question. Unless the link to the background music is put in the author's profile and the music is played. It's a matter of finding the lyrics you like. Like all genres, pairings, parodies not everything suits everyone. Songfics are like stories in some cases. I know that I for one have made parodies of songs with the Harry Potter book. I have seen quite a few songfics and they were great.

The copyright law allows for that but all fandoms here somehow surpass the copyright law itself, hence fanfiction. Fanfiction.net gives us entire freedom, not to let us decide, but because there is no restrictions. Some law or amendment allows us to use the work of fandom authors/writers. The law is a free speech act of some sort. All copyrighted material that the author objects to the usage of, is not allowed on fanfiction.net. For the rest of teh work, the rule covers it and since none of these stories written based off of other's works is sold money or profit we violate no law or anything. They have no grounds to sue us as this site would be held responsible first. Therefore and yet Xing and any other founders of this site would not open this site if using these works violated any copyright laws. If you notice on the first page of Fanfiction.net there are lists of authors whose material cannot be used by their objection and a list of types of material that cannot be used, such as 'choose your adventures'.

No court would not rule in your favor had you been writing this on a Fanfiction website. In fact you wouldn't be there but the founder of this site would if the story was on this site. The site owners themselves have set up this site, knowing it's free from legal implications. Otherwise they wouldn't have set up this site because all the responsibility is on them.

In stories you basically copy the whole plot and there have been numerous stories on here where the entire chapter was copied. The matter is not how much is copied, we have sole freedom for that with freedom of speech laws. I've seen the whole series of Harry Potter copied in certain fics.

In every work here you are using all of their form and expression of their creativity. People aren't making original fics here and loosely basing it off of the fandoms they write for.

THe difference is no one is doing it for profit therefore it is allowed.

There is no 'ticking timebomb' anywhere. Everything is covered here, by the free speech law, and Xing has set up fandoms from the work of authors that have not objected to their works being used. No one can or would sue fanfiction.net for damages that Xing has taken care not to let his site be implicated for. And then there is the fact that no one here is using their works for profit or claiming it as their own.

And it is not a rule at all. Only songs that are copyrighted are disallowed. And it's not even only songs it's all materials. And many of the fandom works here are copyrighted such as Harry Potter and ecetera. If copyrighted songs are different from copyrighted book series then I am willing to believe that all copyrighted songs later than the 50's are disallowed. I know that some songs copyrighted do not permit others to post them, the reason why some of them are removed from youtube.

Other than that original songs and non copyrighted songs are allowed.

#32 May 06th, 9:12am . Edited May 06th, 9:14am

Forgottengargoyle

Hi all.

Irindiglo-Fairy, you've got some good points. Unfortunately, the First Admendment (the one that protects Americans by enabling free speech) specifically bars any work that "constitutes a copyright infringement."

It's not that fanfiction genre has surpassed the copyright laws, it's that authors are not interested in murdering their fans creativity. As you know, I don't allow fanfiction of my work (and yes, I'm on the list) but there are some weird reasons for it.

Now, if I could guarantee that all the fanfiction written of my work is done as well as you write, Irindiglo, I would have no problem allowing it. But when I read some of these stories I just can't take it. I work too hard to develop my characters, only to have some youngster come along and make them completely different, just so the person can write herself into the story. It's not fair to me, the author. Also, a good friend of mine was actually sued by a fan when the fan insisted her story was too much like my friend's new book in the series. Can you imagine? And the chances of it happening to someone like JKR are astronomical. But this is why stating you are not making a profit on the story isn't good enough, because you (the fan) can still sue me (the author).

By not allowing any work of mine up, I'm free to write the series how I see fit, because then I don't have to worry about taking ideas from one of my fans. And while I get alot of crap from angry fans about not allowing fan fiction, I always make sure to write them back and explain the situation. They always understand - I guess because I do a better job at explaining than I am doing here.

Now, songfics. Lyrics are a tough one, but there is a loophole. If you credit the writer of the song, not the band that sang it, this will act as a disclaimer. Make sure you state you are not gaining profit, as well. That always soothes feathers - even though I just said it wasn't good enough, you can't sue a songwriter for plagarism on your work because you were writing a story and he's writing a completely different song.

Now about this site. An author can sue whomever he wants - he can sue Xing, the moderators, he can sue you the fan fiction authors, he can level a lawsuit against anyone. Whether you have the ability to defend yourself - that's what I worry about. Xing has attorneys, you probably don't. He's protected because he can say you, the author, read and agreed to the Terms of Service. And they are so vague that an attorney could easily "bend" them to say you violated them.

Anyway, enough of this legal stuff. When are you going to write your own stuff Irindiglo? I think you are well above most of the published authors out there. You really should submit something - you could soon be in my position..*grin*

#33 May 06th, 11:05am

Aislynn Crowdaughter

I always thought published writers made very sure to stay clear of fanfiction sites so they could claim they did not read any fanstory that might have that plot they wanted to use in their series? I think the problem in the case of MZB was that she clearly knew the fanstory in question, since she was editing and publishing the stories of her fans; she could never have claimed she did not know the plot when she wrote her book. And the problem in the case of JMS, as far as I know, was that the idiot fan had sent his ore her fanfic-story to him? Or that is what I heard.

#34 May 06th, 11:32am . Edited May 06th, 11:48am

Hi!

Thank you! ^^ I see the First Amendment bars any work that is a "constitutional copyright infringement". Though I would've guessed that fanfiction writing wasn't really a copyright infringement in the sense that the authors themselves seem to give permission.'

Yeah I guessed that. I would find it odd for someone like JKR to be without a copyright on her series. That makes sense that they want to encourage their fans' creativity. You're name is on the list? You're that famous? Interesting I'll have to see it!

Thanks, you're flatter me! *turns red* I wasn't aware I even wrote that well. I had a little problem with my syntax lately because I have trouble organizing the many thoughts I put into one sentence. I can understand not wanting someone to use your series for their own purposes. That's just using your place and characters. I would think that someone using another author's work would at least make a parody. Oh she got a lawsuit, that's horrible. Like Aislynn said, it was probably the fangirl's fault in the first place. I'm also surprised that the fangirl can sue an author for her non copyrighted(was it copyrighted?) work based on your friend's work. How did that work?

Yeah it's true you shouldn't have to take that kind of stress. I didn't know it was possible for a fan to sue the author for the work of the author's that the fan is using. You're explaining it really well, I didn't really know that things like this were possible.

That's good to know! I assumed that copyrighted songs were not permitted to be used by the writers. Since some songs on youtube were taken down. Perhaps those that posted those songs didn't credit the songwriter.

That's bad. Though like you said earlier or someone else did, I guess the author won't have much basis to sue anyone on this site if they did not specifically disallowe their work here, like you did. By the way, how did you come to know of fanfiction.net? Did you find fanfiction and disallow them to use your work or did they find out?

Xing should fix the Terms of Services. He's kind of holding us responsible for ourselves. He doesn't have to care, it appears, since we don't pay, though he would lose nothing by making the ToS less bendable.

Lol, thanks. I didn't know I was good. xD Really? You think so? Wow, I still am not familiar with all of the rules of grammar, or I don't remember them if I use them subconsciously. Lol, that's a good compliment. Right now I'm in school finishing finals while I'm going for a Business degree. I'm not sure if I could write a book, lol. I'm still procrastinating on the 2 stories of mine. xD

#35 May 06th, 1:22pm

I-Fairy, I think you need to learn a bit more about copyright. Wikipedia has an article that may help you. Preferably you might try an encyclopedia in your school or municipal library.

In countries that are signatories to the Berne convention, practically any creative work automatically gets copyrighted. You don't even need the copyright symbol, although I think that in the USA it gives you additional rights or something like that. The only works that are not copyrighted are ones where the copyright owner has explicitly placed it in the public domain (this is rare), or which are so old that copyright has expired (e.g. Charles Dickens).

Thus most songs are copyrighted. Copying lyrics into a fanfic or copying music onto a youtube video both constitute infringement, unless the copyright owner has given you permission. Crediting the author does not make it infringement any less. It's still willful infringement, so expect a judge to give you a stiff penalty. All crediting or a disclaimer might do is indicate that you are not claiming it as your own, so the judge might ease off... just a little.

I'll try to ask my friend who's an IP attorney about the legality of fan fiction and get back to you. But whether it's legal or not, the reason that we don't get sued is because it's bad for business. We're fans of JKR or Pokemon or whatever. Many websites that post game tips, fan art, fan fiction, TCG decks, etc. have the net effect of promoting their business and earning them money. We're like free ads for them. Suing us just because they can, however, will anger fans and ultimately lose them money. Basically that's the reason why we can get away with it.

#36 May 07th, 5:26am

OK, I asked my attorney friend and he said that songfics based on copyrighted songs are illegal, no doubt about it. You are copying the entire text of the song and that's black and white infringement.

I asked him about fan fiction in general and the answer was that it's not illegal in itself. For example, if you create your own plot but just reference some material from other sources (e.g. a place, a character), then it's not a problem at all. So the good news there is that fan fiction in general and fanfiction.net in particular is perfectly legal.

However, he said it's still a gray area and the legality depends on the degree to which you have made use of another's labour. If you copy most of the plot but just change a few names and minor details, they can sue you. If you just write a story in a the same world with only minor references to the original work, then it should be OK. Anywhere in between really depends on how good a case they can make against you in court.

Even those authors who have said "no fan fiction please" can't stop you, so long as you don't cross the line. The problem is that the line is very gray, and in any case I think it's unethical as a writer if you do not respect their wishes.

Obviously this applies to copyright material (which will in practice be most it anyway, now that the laws have changed). Older material for which copyright has expired (Dickens, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Aesop, Homer) is no problem.

#37 May 08th, 12:25am