Fanfic writers and artistic rights

Some time ago, there was a discussion on Absolute Write about fanfiction, so I peeked into the thread. It was interesting to read, but there was one claim I disagreed with : the assertion that fanfic writers have a right to the characters that original authors create. All quotes in blue are paraphrased from that discussion.

“Not a legal right, but an artistic right.”

I was puzzled as to what gave fanfic writers this artistic right when they hadn’t created the characters.

“They love the characters.”

Is love alone enough to establish any sort of right over someone else’s intellectual property? I like the original Transformers cartoon, and my favorite characters from it are the Stunticons. I heart these incredibly dysfunctional ‘cons and have written a lot of fanfics about them—fanfics which developed them far more than the cartoon did. Readers have often told me how they never noticed or cared about these minor background characters before encountering my fics.

But I don’t own the Stunticons in any way, nor do I feel entitled to any such rights.

Because I didn’t create them.

“Your characters are like your children. Once you publish them, it’s analogous to their growing up. You don’t have any more control over them after that.”

Well, if we’re pursuing this (bizarre, IMO) analogy, then a fanfic writer who feels an artistic right to my characters doesn’t get that either, because my characters didn’t consent to it.

“I don’t believe characters can be owned by anyone.”

It’s nice if you believe that I can’t own or control my characters, but the thing is… I’m the person who thought about them and wrote about them and got them published. They didn’t exist before that.

Here’s the other thing. If I write a future novel where, say, Alyster and Miri from The Farthest Shore separate for some reason (which they never will; together forever, those two, but humor me for the purpose of this discussion), and a fanfic writer pens a similar novel where they stay together despite their differences, guess which one will be canon?

The fanfic writer can swear on a stack of Kama Sutras that his/her vision is more artistically true to the characters. More romantic than what I wrote. What the characters would want. It still doesn’t make a difference to whose version is the official one, and who gets to say what happens to the characters.

Possession is nine-tenths of the law. And I possess all my heroes, oh yes I do. Heroines too, of course. And villains, mustn't leave them out.

“Trying to own characters is like trying to own people.”

At this point I realized my worldview and that of the person making this claim were so far apart that there was no point in continuing the discussion. A slavery comparison is only one step away from Godwin’s Law.

Plus, as I said, I don’t consider my characters to be real, actual, living people entitled to all the same rights and freedoms that real, actual, living people have.

I don’t care if someone else feels their characters can’t be owned. Do whatever you like with the characters you come up with—renounce copyright, let them roam free, whatever. But I don’t have to humor any such claims about my creations. And now I’m off to make more of them.

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Using other people's characters

Inspired by the fanfiction post, I thought it would be interesting to make a list of books (and a play) which use other people's characters.

Without permission, though that's partly because most of the works are in the public domain. But I'll keep the list handy because in a fanfic debate, someone's sure to suggest that using other people's characters shows a lack of originality, creative bankruptcy, laziness, etc. So here's the list:

Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Tom Stoppard
The Wind Done Gone, Alice Randall
March, Geraldine Brooks
Mrs de Winter, Susan Hill
Good Morning, Irene, Carole Nelson Douglas
MacB, Neil Arksey
Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife, Linda Berdoll
Bored of the Rings, by the Harvard Lampoon
Heathcliff: The Sequel to Wuthering Heights, Lin Haire-Sargeant
Return to Wuthering Heights, Anna L'Estrange
Desire and Duty : A Sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Ted Bader

In a couple of cases, the characters' names are changed slightly. For instance, MacB (based on Macbeth) has Banksie and Duncan King rather than Banquo and Duncan, the king of Scotland. But on the whole, it's interesting to see how many published works borrow other writers' characters. And this is just the tip of the iceberg - examples I found in ten minutes.

Special mention goes to Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley. Margaret Mitchell's estate may have authorized this sequel, but Mitchell herself felt the story stopped where it had to stop.

Fanfiction

There's been some discussion on the Internet about Diana Gabaldon's disapproval of fanfic. I read about this first on the Absolute Write forums and then on Maria Zannini's blog.

The debate is an old one. I didn't really like the idea of fanfics until last year, when I was burned out from a slew of rejection letters. Suddenly I wanted to write a story that wouldn't be rejected.

So I wrote some fanfics. I enjoyed it, and it revitalized my interest in writing. Since there was no pressure to publish my work, I could experiment with different styles. After a few months, I resubmitted my manuscript and got an acceptance letter.

As a result, here's my take on fanfiction.

Objections to fanfic : what I agree with

1. Lawsuit potential

In 1992, a fan of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover novels claimed that the latest Darkover book stole an idea that she had sent to a fanzine Bradley ran. Because of the legal complications that resulted, published writers are warned not to read fanfics.

I think this is a case of a few bad apples spoiling it for the rest of the barrel, but it's also something published writers have good reason to be concerned about.

2. Copyright infringement

Using someone else's characters without permission is copyright infringement.

It makes me wonder, though. If I were to take characters that are in the public domain, such as Jane Austen's, and publish a novel about them, why would that be more acceptable than my writing a fanfic? Surely I don't have permission from Jane Austen to discuss her characters' love lives or to make said characters vampire slayers.

It seems to me like a moral grey area, though I'm willing to be corrected on this.

Also, there's copyright infringement which robs the writer (such as piracy, which I'm completely against). I don't think fanfics do this. Instead, when they're good, they can encourage and maintain interest in the original material.

Objections to fanfic : what I don't agree with

1. "Why not make up your own worlds?"

This is like saying to someone who likes singing karaoke, "Why not make up your own songs and music?" It's missing the point. Sometimes the fun is in telling a story set in that particular world, with those particular characters.

If I wanted to have an adventure set in a world of Gothic horror, I'd play Ravenloft. If I wanted to write a story about a battle between giant robots who turn into vehicles, I'd write Transformers fanfics (which, incidentally, I do). If I wanted to be published - and it's by no means a given that everyone who writes fanfics wants this or should want it - I would come up with my own worlds.

Which I also do.

2. "Most fanfics are poorly written."

Can't argue with that, though a lot of manuscripts in the slush pile are also poorly written. I've read fanfics that were beautifully crafted, published novels that weren't, and vice versa.

Besides, there are sites like Fictionpress, where original work can be posted to the Internet. If the quality of fanfiction is an argument against it, surely the quality of original work should be criticized too.

3. "It's disrespectful to the source material."

That depends on the fanfic, IMO. I've read some that were horrible, some which left me indifferent, and some which I loved. I think it's overly emotive to say that all fanfic "tramples" on the original work.

But personally, I would always respect the writer's wishes regarding the world. There are a few Song of Ice and Fire fics on the web. I wouldn't even look at those, because George R. R. Martin doesn't approve of fanfics regarding his work.

So if I ever reach the point where other people want to write fanfics about my work, I'd be fine with it, as long as they weren't making money from such fanfics. I would never read them. But I'd hope other people did.

What are your thoughts on fanfiction?