Quote:
Originally Posted by Yapyap
Considering his statement was general and all-encompassing, not bothering to differentiate between people writing fanfic for copyrighted universes where the rights holder doesn't allow it, copyrighted universes where the rights holder allows and/or encourages it, and universes in public domain, I'd say he managed to insult a LOT of people who haven't engaged in anything even remotely illegal or infringing on anyone's copyright.
And considering his statement implied that everyone who "feeds" off other people's work instead of creating their own worlds is a leech and parasite and blood-sucker, it's pretty offensive also to anyone writing legal, approved, published fanfiction in its widest sense (tie-in novels, sequels to or alternative takes on public domain works, and so on - all that is, in its essence, the same thing as fanfiction after all, just that it's done for personal gain, not (just) out of love or interest in the source material).
By that statement, people like Laurie R. King (Mary Russell novels) and Jean Rhys (Wide Sargasso Sea), never mind Seth Grahame-Smith (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) are also nothing but leeches, parasites and blood-suckers, as they, too, "feed off" someone else's work. And let's not even get to almost the entire TV and film industry that lives on adaptations of other people's work instead of coming up with something completely original!
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Especially since there's no such thing as originality anyway - all stories have been told already, time and again. The only things writers can really change are the setting, the time, and the POV. And genre fic is even restricted as to aspects of those.
Does a software designer have to go back to 1s and 0s in order not to 'infringe' on others' work? Doesn't everyone who creates *anything* 'leech' off the work of others?
All culture is cooperative. All technology is cooperative. Nothing human is accomplished in any endeavor without the help of others.