But we can't Selllllll fanfic

[valarltd]

This has been brewing for a while.

Why can't we sell fanfiction?
When there are books like Scarlett and The Wind Done Gone.
When My Jim debuts to critical acclaim.
When The Open Window totally takes Wendy Darling out of character and sells for $14.95.
When The Red Tent is being read by women's book groups all over country.
When the X-Wing and Buffy and ST books go on and on and endlessly on.

What makes THEIR fanfiction so superior to ours?
The fact it's packaged as literature?
The fact it's approved by the owners?

Help me out here, because I'm confused, and getting crankier by the day.

Comments

[reannon.livejournal.com]

Nothing makes it superior. It is approved by the copyright owners and is therefore legal. It is illegal to sell work based on the copyrighted work of others without their permission. I remember when the estate of Margaret Mitchell decided to allow a sequel - there was an actual competition, with authors sending in their resumes and plot outlines, before they selected Alexandra Ripley for "Scarlett." "The Wind Done Gone" was the subject of a humongous lawsuit, and was eventually ruled a parody and therefore exempt from copyright violation.

Recently, a friend of mine wrote a story that included the character of Tarzan. Public domain, right? Because Burroughs has been dead a good long time? Unfortunately for my friend, Burroughs' family had extended their ownership. They denied him permission, said they only worked with major authors from "major publishers." Nice, huh? He switched to Mowgli of "The Jungle Book." Out of copyright. :)

Most authors/creators wink at fanfic, figuring it does no harm as long as they don't make money and helps spread fandom. But there are some who have actually cracked down even on non-paying fanfic. I personally think they're nuts, but they do have a legal leg to stand on.

The Buffy and Star Trek books are licensed by the copyright holders, which are Mutant Enemy and Paramount, I believe. George Lucas allegedly keeps a tight rein on the plots he permits in Star Wars books, in an attempt to keep them somewhat in canon.

But no, it has nothing to do with quality or literature. It's the law. When J.K. Rowling created Harry Potter or I created Samantha Crews, the same law protects us both. How the author chooses to apply the law - that's up to them.