Fan Fiction: Against

[rolanni]

Robin Hobb has posted a cogent rant here. Link from pegkerr

I know that some folks on my friends list write fan fic, and may thus not agree with Robin's points. If you feel compelled to disagree with them here, please be polite and rational. Posts deemed impolite, irrational, or both, by Eagles Over the Kennebec Management will be deleted.

In the service of Full Disclosure and Fair Warning, I do agree with Robin's points. Scott Lynch (link also from pegkerr) does not.

Comments

Re: *Why* would you do it?

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Some of them want to give the universe a 90-degree twist and see what happens.

This is where we get into the effect/harm/backlash onto the original work. Surely, if the original author wishes to give their universe a 90-degree twist as an exercise in what-if, or to create an intriguing story-line, that is the right and prerogative of the original author and not of an outside agency?

And some of them are professional authors who also love writing fanfic

I'm very sorry, but the fact that some professional authors write fanfic is ...not compelling as an explanation. This may be, I acknowledge, because I've met and dealt with so many professional authors *G*.

The answer is the same as for any other human endeavor: Because it's fun.

Yes, but. Not all things that all people think are fun to do themselves are harmless to others. And simply saying that there's no harm done doesn't prove that this is so -- no more, I admit, than saying harm is done proves that *that* is so.

Similarly, the idiot who sued Marion Zimmer Bradley; the idiot who asked permission to write a St. Germain story, was denied, and then went on to write and publish anyway; and the idiots who harass Anne Rice are indeed fanfic writers, but they don't represent the entire body of the population.

Right. And I will say that those people who have asked -- and been denied -- permission to write Liaden Universe(R) fanfic have been respectful and more or less understanding of our position, if disappointed. (kinzel has spoken upstream regarding the folks who didn't ask.)

Re: *Why* would you do it?

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Surely, if the original author wishes to give their universe a 90-degree twist as an exercise in what-if, or to create an intriguing story-line, that is the right and prerogative of the original author and not of an outside agency?

We now return to the intent of the original author. Joss Whedon, for one, has spoken repeatedly and lovingly about fanfic. His intent is not being subverted if you write an alternate universe in which Buffy loses -- in point of fact, he did so himself. Who is being harmed when you work in a universe whose creator consents? Fanfic doesn't overwrite canon. We all know that the real Buffy eventually triumphed, and no quantity of apocalyptic fic changes that in the minds of Buffy fans.

I do not deny that there are incompetent fanficcers, rude fanficcers, plagiaristic fanficcers. I do deny that all fanficcers are one or more of the above, and that fanfic is inevitably harmful. It's the sweeping generalizations that bring me out to argue.

I'm very sorry, but the fact that some professional authors write fanfic is ...not compelling as an explanation.
No. But it is an effective refutation of the argument that fanfic can be a step on the pathway to professional writing, as well as a refutation of the argument that no serious writer could ever write fanfic.

Re: *Why* would you do it?

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

It's the sweeping generalizations that bring me out to argue.

Me, too.

Who is being harmed when you work in a universe whose creator consents?

When creator consent is present, then there's no problem for him/her/it, their universe, or the fans who chose to write in that universe.

The problem comes when people begin to think that any work of fiction is fair game for their re-interpretation and publication, and that by the act of publishing, the original creator has relinquished all control over his/her/its work.

(Note: No one here has argued this; I have seen this argument made elsewhere by fanfic writers, and I can't begin, holding to my own rules of polite and rational discourse, to describe how offensive that viewpoint is.)

To be clear: The difficulty on both sides of the question arises in part from inconsistency: It's OK to fanfic Gaiman; it's not OK to fanfic Lee & Miller -- add a unsophisticated (or entitled) fan writer and you have a problem. Lee & Miller have to get ugly; the fan's bewildered; people get mad and little the landscape with sweeping generalizations.

It might -- perhaps -- help matters if people who wrote and published approved fanfic included a disclaimer. Something on the lines of: Neil Gaiman has given his permission for fan writers to write in the X universe he created; here's the link to the permission, check it out. This would, IMHO, be much more honest -- and useful -- than the mistaken, but oft-repeated, "Because we make no money from the publication of this unauthorized story, the author's copyright has not been placed in jeopardy."

This may solve nothing; or it may alert would-be fanfic writers that there's a level of potential unpleasantness present in the use of another person's intellectual property, and that it's best to check before writing.

Re: *Why* would you do it?

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

little the landscape

That would of course be "litter the landscape."

Gah.

Re: *Why* would you do it?

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

The utter ineditability of LJ comments drives me bonkers. I know why it's there socially, to keep people from changing what they claim to have said, but argh.

Re: *Why* would you do it?

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

For instance, in my posting above, "that fanfic can be" should be "that fanfic CANNOT be". Sigh.