Fan fiction is not plagiarism
From Fan History Wiki
Fan fiction is not plagiarism. It is quite clear that fan fiction is a form of derivative fiction as understood by US copyright laws and the Berne Convention. The right to create derivative fiction is one owned by the copyright owner. To be clear on this, here it is pointed to Title 17 of the United States Code, Circular 92, Chapter 1, § 103 which states:
- (a) The subject matter of copyright as specified by section 102 includes compilations and derivative works, but protection for a work employing preexisting material in which copyright subsists does not extend to any part of the work in which such material has been used unlawfully.
- (b) The copyright in a compilation or derivative work extends only to the material contributed by the author of such work, as distinguished from the preexisting material employed in the work, and does not imply any exclusive right in the preexisting material. The copyright in such work is independent of, and does not affect or enlarge the scope, duration, ownership, or subsistence of, any copyright protection in the preexisting material.
The relevant section of interest has been bolded. The material much be derivative, original and independently copyrightable. These rights are bestowed to the copyright owners and the copyright owners have the right to enforce their copyright at any time. There is, in the United States, no case law that would apply to fan fiction based on media properties. The closest case that fen are aware of involves the book, The Wind Done Gone which ended up being sealed out of court.
This means that fan fiction is not inherently plagiaristic. It means, that in terms of copyright law, fan fiction is inherently derivative. This understanding of fan fiction as a creative endevaor which violates copyright but does not seek to profit from the material has been around for many years. It is one supported by many fans over the course of many years. To give a clear example of this, a disclaimer from a fanzine dating to 1977 says:
- Copyright September, 1977, by Love Child Press, D.T. Steiner, Ed. All rights reassigned to individual authors and artists. No material may be reprinted without the written consent of the editor. Only original material herin is covered by this copyright, and no attempt is made to infringe upon the copyrights of Paramount Studio, Norway Productions, NBC, or any other holders of copyright on Star Trek material.
Fan fiction based on fictional works is a copyright violation, based on the rights of the copyright creator to control derivative works based on their copyrighted material. Fan fiction writers writing their material derived from copyrighted material do so with the knowledge that the copyright creator can come in and say stop at any time. And it has happened. Marion Zimmer Bradley, Anne Rice, Chelsea Quinn Yarbo, J. Michael Straczynski, Anne McCaffrey have all done this at various times.
