unforum

[Fishjp]

FanFic Rules?

[Nighthawk]

I do not know for sure how this applies to "fan fic", but generally if you use any single word that's a registered trademark, you need authorization from the owner of said trademark.

For example, "Enterprise" is a registered trademark, as are most of the character names from any of the series. I'm not sure that the word "Federation" is, but "United Federation of Planets" is.

Some studios are very tolerant about it (Star Trek has a boatload of fan fic, I believe), but LucasArts for example will come down on you like an anvil if you try to use their property. I was once on a team that was doing a Star Wars-themed add-on for Half-Life until LucasArts sent us a "cease and desist" letter.

[Fishjp]

[notgordian]

I'm not a lawyer, this isn't legal advice, and relying on this information probably wouldn't be in your best interests. Take it with a healthy scoop of salt. However, it's a starting point for your own research.

Other than "it's probably illegal" in the US, there isn't a simple answer to this question. I don't know of any cases specifically addressing the legality of fanfiction, but that doesn't mean they aren't out there.

Fanfiction, by its nature, is generally a derivative work. And one of the things copyright owners get is the right to create derivative works. So unless what you're doing is fair use or you have the copyright owner's authorization, you're infringing on their right. Now, if you have their consent, that's great! Fair use is a trickier situation, as it's a balancing test of a bunch of factors.

As I understand it, most fanfiction writers either operate under implicit or explicit permission of the copyright owner (for instance, Dave Szulborski talked about EA approving of the fan-created content from Majestic and even actively rewarding contributors in his keynote), or hope that what they're doing would qualify as fair use. As Nighthawk said: different copyright (and trademark) owners will go to different lengths to enforce their rights, and different projects are treated differently -- JK Rowling hasn't really gone after the various Harry Potter fanfiction authors or websites, but she is suing someone trying to publish a Harry Potter lexicon.

There was a fairly large attempt to commercialize fanfiction with Fanlib, but that project crashed and burned for a variety of reasons that Henry Jenkins discusses. Through following that debacle, I stumbled across Fandom Lawyers, a (pro-fanfiction) Livejournal group that has devoted a lot more time and thought to this kind of thing than I have.

To see how convoluted this kind of stuff can get, take a look at Gaiman v McFarlane. It's about the comic SPAWN, so it's a fun read.

[Nighthawk]

[Jas0n]

I remember looking into this at one time and there was a very different take on it based on whether or not you were trying to make money off of it - or a product that could be used to make money or compete with another product they're licensing their rights to. I know that there are a few Lucas sanctioned Star Wars shorts out there, but if they even ask for donations - Lucas is all over them.

I know - personally - if I make something that someone enjoyed and they made their own fanfic - as long as they're not making money off of it - I'd be totally cool with it and honored by it. If they are making money off of it, I'd want a share of course

[notgordian]

Jas0n: whether something is commercial is only one (possibly two) of the factors used to evaluate whether something is fair use -- admittedly it's an important one, but it shouldn't be used for a definitive answer without considering the whole picture.

-the purpose and character of your use
-the nature of the copyrighted work
-the amount and substantiality of the portion taken, and
-the effect of the use upon the potential market.

The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) website has a description of what has been considered fair use in the past, but warns that fair use is decided on a case-by-case basis.

Looking into this reminded me that the EFF helped set up a resource for fanfiction related questions that should help a lot for the original post. The FAQ section should be especially helpful.

Again, not a lawyer, this isn't legal advice, but boy howdy is the EFF a useful resource