New movie?

[horacethegrey]

The point is, the copyright holder has the exclusive right to determine what's done with the copyrighted material. Some don't mind the "free advertising" but some mind very much. I don't think I'm disagreeing here, but I want to explicitly point out that just because Lucasfilm is "smart" enough to adopt what looks like a laissez-faire attitude ("smart" in the sense that they thereby keep one avid and active segment of the fan base very happy) doesn't mean they're obligated to, and it certainly doesn't affect the attitude of other creators.

I'm not saying it's wrong for the creators to have the right to clamp down on fanworks. I'm just saying that in the long run, for me, it's a bad move on their part. Clamping down on fanworks is a surefire way to alienate fans. I happen to know some people who've stopped reading Anne Rice because of her anti-fanfic stance.

Besides, fanfiction is pretty harmless. I'm pretty sure anyone who reads them knows it's not to be confused with the original work. So what if there's the occasional X-rated trash prose that occasionally pops up? How is it's existence going to hurt the original work? It's not canon, and the person who wrote it is certainly not going to profit it. So why the bother?

Oh, BTW. I hope you don't mind me correcting you, but Rowling was never against fanfiction. In fact, she loves reading fanfics of all kinds. She just finds the adult ones not to her taste.

Or trying to sue City of Heroes into oblivion because, hey, it's *possible* to make a character that looks like Wolverine in the costume creator, and name him ".Wulverine." (because "Wolverine" is blocked by the name filter), which is a violation of Marvel's copyrights and trademarks. (They did, it is, and there was a settlement, but it's a somewhat longer and more complicated story.)

While I do agree that the legal issue they had with City of Heroes was pretty stupid, that's not as bad as when they sued the UK anthologyWarrior Magazine for their Marvelman comic. Never mind the fact that the character was created in to 50's, well before Marvel Comics was even formed. Nevertheless, Warrior was forced to take Marvelman off, but the title was later released stateside under the name Miracleman to avoid legal action. Still, it was Marvel's loss, because of the legal fiasco, the author of the said comic refused to ever work for them under any circumstance. A guy named Alan Moore. :\

I mean really, marvel is a pretty common word in the English language. Stupid House of Ideas. :\

 

[Marius Delphus]

Besides, fanfiction is pretty harmless.

I don't happen to agree, but I'm content to leave it at that.

Oh, BTW. I hope you don't mind me correcting you, but Rowling was never against fanfiction. In fact, she loves reading fanfics of all kinds. She just finds the adult ones not to her taste.

I never mind being corrected if I have my facts wrong. Thank you. I do remember that Rowling was against an RPG based on her works and that her stated reason was that she hated having other people put words in her character's mouths, which is where I got the idea that she probably hated fan fiction in general.

 

[Pyrex]

No sh*t? Seriously? Jeez. Why the hell do people get so hung up on simple words and have to resort to legal action. It's just like Marvel comics getting hung up on the word Marvel.

Actually it's more like them trying to Trademark "Superhero".

 

[Cthulhudrew]

While I do agree that the legal issue they had with City of Heroes was pretty stupid, that's not as bad as when they sued the UK anthologyWarrior Magazine for their Marvelman comic. Never mind the fact that the character was created in to 50's, well before Marvel Comics was even formed. Nevertheless, Warrior was forced to take Marvelman off, but the title was later released stateside under the name Miracleman to avoid legal action. Still, it was Marvel's loss, because of the legal fiasco, the author of the said comic refused to ever work for them under any circumstance. A guy named Alan Moore. :\

As an aside to this, Marvel comics and Moore eventually kissed and made up (due to some heavy lobbying on behalf of their EIC, Joe Quesada), and Moore agreed to do some "moore" (heh) work for them. His name was accidentally kept off of a trade paperback collecting some of his Captain Britain work, and he once more swore off working for Marvel comics (they corrected the error in later printings, however.)

 

[horacethegrey]

Actually it's more like them trying to Trademark "Superhero".

If and when this happens, I am swearing off any Marvel or DC comics for good. No sense in giving those greedy bastards their money's worth.

You never saw Tolkien trademarking the words elf, dwarf or dragon, right? (Hobbit doesn't count of course, since he did create that)

 

[Ranger REG]

Actually it's more like them trying to Trademark "Superhero".

Too late. Somebody else did.

http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=o7d94s.2.15

 

[Ranger REG]

If and when this happens, I am swearing off any Marvel or DC comics for good. No sense in giving those greedy bastards their money's worth.

You never saw Tolkien trademarking the words elf, dwarf or dragon, right? (Hobbit doesn't count of course, since he did create that)

But I can see someone trademarking elph, dworf, and dragenn.