Quote:
Originally Posted by Elsi
I'm impressed by the authors who generously encourage others to write fan fiction set in the worlds that they have created. Several authors have been able to sell their original works after getting a start this way.
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With caveats. Anne McCaffrey permits and even encourages fan fiction set in the Pern universe. But the author must explicitly copyright the work in her name
and Anne's name. Anne does so out of simple self-protection.
The problem with fan fiction is the same one that afflicts many popular musicians. Periodically, you'll see news items that some musician you've never heard of has sued some big name star, claiming a track on the star's new album essentially stole the melody from a recording you've never heard and you've never heard of the musician bringing suit.
The star has likely never heard the song infringement is being claimed on, nor heard of the musician claiming infringement, but how does she
prove it? In practical terms, she can't, and a lawyer friend once expounded on what he called the "Deep Pocket Theory of Jury Trials", whch was essentially "The side perceived as having the money will pay, regardless of the facts." Such cases are generally settled out of court, because the record companies don't wish to risk possibly far greater damages awarded by a jury.
Some years back, J. Michael Straczynski used to hang out on various Babylon 5 related message areas. He said again and again "Don't post story ideas. If you do, I have to leave!" The episode "Passing through Gethsemane" was written and ready for production a year before it got shot, because a fan on a Compuserve message area had posted an idea similar to what JMS had written, and he had to spend the time to track down the fan and get a release signed before he could produce the script without fear of suit.
So it is with Anne. She could be sued by a writer of Perm fanfic if her new book happens to contain things similar to what the fanfic writer did in a story Anne likely never saw. How does she prove it? Requiring copyright in her name as well as the author's neatly sidesteps the problem.
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Dennis