No, I’m not taking them, ha.
This is a friendly reminder that creators and publishers alike are very ok with fanfic and fan art (in particular, I am very fond of the existence of fan art), but when you charge money or accept donations (i.e. take in money) for fan fiction, you’re violating the copyright of whichever content you’re writing for.
I know it might not seem different, but the moment you’re writing about my characters for money, that’s … what I have a contract to do. I can’t even write about those contracted characters for money without getting permission from my publisher to do so.
I know it sucks to try to make it as an artist, but as artists, we’ve got to respect other folk’s work. So remember, fanfic for the fun of it, charge for your OCs.
urs,
Stiefvater
To put a super fine point on it, apart from the legal aspect: this is my
job. I pay my bills by writing stories about characters I pulled from
my dreams. Please … don’t take my job? Put the unique characters you
pulled from YOUR dreams out there when money’s on the line.Okay, but you’re treating fan fic as if it’s separate from fan art in this respect.
Let’s be clear, it’s not.
I’m going to lay some groundwork for copyright law in regards to the creation and distribution of fan work.
(By the way, my argument here is mostly going to be discussing fan art because I have more examples at the ready, but really, it applies to fic, too. The medium doesn’t change the potential for legal application to copyrighted material.)
Making fan art and fic is perfectly legal, and sharing it is grand as long as the creator isn’t Anne Rice. Selling it is where things get dicey because, yes, using copyrighted material to turn a profit is illegal, regardless of whether the content is fic or art.
So why do we see artists selling fan art and not getting in trouble, even in public spaces like artist alleys at conventions? After all, over half the work for sale in artist alleys are fan works.
Well, from a technical standpoint, they should be sued for infringing on copyrighted material. That’s the stark, black and white viewpoint.
But fan content is an incredibly gray area, which is why there are lawyers dedicated specifically to protecting artists–meaning, both the original creators and fan creators.
And let’s remember most copyright holders are fans of other content, too. They aren’t strangers to fan communities, and they have good reason to let them grow. Fans are incredibly supportive by discussing and building/maintaining hype for original content, which turns into profit as more and more people become aware of the official work. More attention turns into more fans and more people willing to spend money on official products.
Original creators want to support their fan bases as much as fans want to support the official content. Fan art and fic help keep interest in the original content alive, and when it’s free to consume, fan content clearly isn’t taking away from potential profits owed to the original creator.
When fan content is being sold, it’s taking away potential profits. This is often the hard line drawn when fan creators get in legal trouble. (It’s not the only potential line crossed, but this is going to be long enough already.)
Remember how I said fan content is a huge gray area? Depending on circumstances and the right lawyer, the fan creator isn’t necessarily in the wrong. Or at least, not as wrong as you might think.
What really makes this area so gray is the transformative nature of fan content. Illustrating or writing a scene already present in the official work is pretty different from an exploration of familiar characters in an alternate universe. And even if you’re exploring a scene already present in canon, what if you explore it from a completely different perspective? How true to character is the depiction? Is the style of writing or painting similar to the original or completely different?
If the fan content is so different from the original, how accurately can someone claim the fan stole potential profits?
A big part of the answer to that question is: how much did the fan profit? And how significant was the profit in comparison to the official work?
…and quite honestly, how much can the copyright holder be bothered to care?
Taking someone to court is a pricey venture, and if the fan’s profit isn’t relatively significant… it’s straight up not worth the time, money, stress, and potential negative publicity.
The larger a fan base, the harder it is to police its activity. Disney has one of the strongest (read: most aggressive) legal departments as a creative company, and they have their work cut out for them. They’ve now built up such a reputation that many artists won’t risk being found out.
Anime fans who aren’t in Asia have a pretty good shot at not getting in legal trouble simply because the copyright holders would have to put in a lot of effort to find and prosecute international fans, as well as the dance between the separate nations’ laws. That’s a lot of extra work for a creative product that’s already successful enough to be translated and distributed overseas. Also, marketing is pretty expensive. Why not let the fans do the work for them? No, it might not represent the work accurately, and yeah, the fan might make a few bucks that could have gone to an official marketing team, but in the long run, it often still leads to official profits. Familiarizing potential audiences and projecting an image of popularity leads to actual popularity from actual audiences.
And fan bases serving as an unofficial marketing team is a pretty cost-effective strategy at the end of the day.
I’ve gotten away from op’s point a bit, which specifically discusses profits gained by fan writers, and I generally agree with the sentiment.
Namely, I agree with not using other creators’ original content for personal profit when the original creator could not comfortably sue me for doing so.
Let’s say someone wanted to commission me to write a Homestuck fic. I wouldn’t do it. Andrew Hussie and his team are their own distributors and have limited channels of gaining profit, even with the large fan base. (For this example, I’m ignoring the go-fund-me donations.)
However, if someone commissioned me to write a Harry Potter fic? Damn right, I’d take it. J.K. Rowling is not hurting for money, and any profit I gained in that venture would mean absolutely nothing to her.
Everything is relative, and in essence, copyright law is fifty shades of gray.
I’m reblogging this commentary because I’ve gotten a lot of questions about where fan art falls in this, and whether this is an ethical, legal, or financial issue, and also to highlight this again: “Making fan art and fic is perfectly legal, and sharing it is grand as long as the creator isn’t Anne Rice. Selling it is where things get dicey because, yes, using copyrighted material to turn a profit is illegal, regardless of whether the content is fic or art.”
This is a pretty good look at the nuances.
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