horacethegrey said:
Well at least Lucasfilm is smart about that, unlike some others. Take the Edgar Rice Burroughs group for example. According to them, fanfiction counts as copyright infringement, which is why there is no Tarzan or Mars fanfic to be found anywhere on the net. I should know, I wrote some and had to subsequently scrap them.
There's also Anne Rice's vicious stance on fanfic, which has alienated many of her fans.
Fan fiction, like a fan film, is copyright infringement (derivative work not prepared by the copyright holder). Lucasfilm chooses not to send cease-and-desist letters left and right or sue fan-film makers into oblivion. The Burroughs estate and Anne Rice choose otherwise. (I seem to remember that Anne Rice, in particular, took this stance after seeing abominably bad erotic fiction passed off as fan fiction. I may be misremembering.) Somewhere in the middle (I think), there's a fairly long tradition of Sherlock Holmes fan fiction, but as I understand things, it generally has to pass muster with the Doyle estate.
Some around here will remember TSR's stance on D&D material posted to the Web (in short: "Exterminate! Exterminate!"). Speaking of which, I think the BBC pursues and shuts down Doctor Who fan fiction. J.K. Rowling is an avid and active foe of fan fiction based on her works. Bill Watterson vehemently opposes any other person's use of Calvin and/or Hobbes. I bet if you look hard enough you can even find Pirates of the Caribbean fan fiction (and if you don't think Disney's looking, too, I got a bridge to sell ya). I bet if Lucasfilm saw a fan film that was pornographic or disgustingly violent, they'd blast it/lightsaber it/torpedo it to bits.
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.
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.
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.)
Intellectual property is just special that way I guess. (Though honestly, trademarks do need to be actively defended or they can be lost. Cf. Aspirin, Escalator, Cellophane; compare Xerox, Kleenex, Coke.)
