Michelle Turner: Blog Post
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Fan fiction has become one
of the largest, if not the largest, growing genres of literature in our
country- particularly on digital platforms. Fan Fiction, according to
Wise Geek, is fiction
that has been written by people who are fans of a particular television series,
movie or book and the fan bases their story on the characters from those
movies, shows, or books. Most modern examples of fan fiction are published on
the Internet.
The success of fan fiction
works such as Fifty
Shades of Grey has raised questions about the fair use of previously
copyrighted characters and stories that are often central to a piece of fan
fiction and the distribution of these works both online and in print. These
questions related to the fan fiction of Fifty Shades are relevant to anyone
exploring digital media publishing and distributing- particularly those in the
growing fan fiction industry.
Fan Fiction Copyright Question
The website Wise Geek explores
the question of copyright
in regards to fan fiction – a question that must be addressed for anyone
considering venturing into the digital publishing space. Wise Geek explains:
“Any material that uses fictional characters, places
and other names from copyrighted works of art constitutes a violation of copyright
laws. Many authors, producers and publishers who own copyrights will go to
considerable lengths to protect their works, especially if they consider
alternate uses of their material to be damaging in some way. Others, however,
choose not to pursue claims against creators of fan fiction as long as they are
not trying to profit from it. This is likely an appreciation of the fact that
fan fiction can be a powerful form of free publicity as well as recognition
that negative publicity could result from a legal attack on the most dedicated
members of a work's fan base. Some copyright holders have even embraced fan fiction,
holding contests to allow fans to submit their writings and sometimes
publishing collections of these materials.”
Fan Fiction Distribution
As the Fifty Shades of
Grey movie began to hit the big screen, a woman in Texas won
a lawsuit on the basis that she was defrauded out of royalties from the
best-selling novel based on the original fan fiction by E.L. James. According
to the lawsuit, Jennifer Lynn Pedroza was a partner in The Writers Coffee Shop
that originally e-published The “Fifty Shades” trilogy. The rights to the book,
which subsequently sold more than 100 millions copies of the book and earned
81.7 million dollars during it’s movie debut, were sold while excluding Pedroza
from the deal. A judge recently agreed that Pedroza should receive her share of
the royalties- an amount that is still to be determined. Essentially, what
originally simple fan fiction posted on a website, has become a media
powerhouse. The lawsuit is a testament to the importance of understanding the
rights of both the author and the publisher- even if that publisher is simply
the one responsible for distributing the content.
Anyone who is considering
venturing into writing and/or publishing fan fiction must take into consideration
the issues of both copyright restrictions and the rights of both writers and
publishers during the distribution process.
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