Comments on: Fan Fiction Plagiarism

By: Plagiarism in Fanfiction: A Double Whammy for the Copyright Laws. | Info Articles

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 15:15:52 +0000

[...] Today: Fan Fiction Plagiarism. (Not [...]

By: zuke

zuke — Wed, 18 May 2011 00:59:12 +0000

How is it that an original author can own a fanfiction author's work? The copyright law, I thought, allowed the copyright holder to write derivative works and to grant permissions for the creation of derivative works. The wording of this article made it seem like the copyright holder can up and swoop all fanfiction and use it for profit. If this is the case, then why do many authors refuse to read fanfiction for fear of legal action and fear of accusations of plagiarism?

By: Jay Summer

Jay Summer — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 02:59:00 +0000

so, if someone writes a fanfiction and inserts OCs, would that be plagarism??

By: a. writer

a. writer — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 04:44:15 +0000

I think part of the issue here is that plagiarism in fanfiction can be felt to be many things. I've heard of people getting upset over complete copy-pasting of fics; of archiving of fics unapproved when the author couldn't be contacted; of quoting from one fic in another fic, or paying homage; writing fanfiction including another fanwriter's OCs.Then there's the other aspect: nine times out of ten, no money is derived from fanfic plagarism. Often plagarised fanfics are only posted in locked communities or forums, and are unlikely to affect traffic to the originally posted fic. But in whatever manner fics are plagiarised, they mainly aren't being stolen for monetary benefit. It's for social – and often a very restricted and localised – social credit. I think that a lot of people forget to think about the very nature and cause of plagiarism in fanfiction communities before they start discussing prevention and retribution.While it's a big deal, I'd like to see way more discussions on *what* plagiarism is in fandom, and *why*, before we start worrying about prevention or whether plagiarism in fandom is black-and-white right and wrong.

By: Cat

Cat — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 03:54:49 +0000

@ Janelle Richard – There is a difference between giving credit for the work, and not giving credit for the work. Fanfic writers don't ever claim to own the fandoms. Plagerists, they claim to actually have created the work themselves. It is a BIG deal.

By: Janelle Richard

Janelle Richard — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:56:39 +0000

I honestly don't think plagiarism in fan-fiction is a big deal. I make many FF stories and I honestly wouldn't be too mad if someone stole my work because I look at it as we're all stealing some famous person's work be it movies, books, or whatever, and making them into something they're not so who really cares. In all honesty I find it very stupid that anyone would get angry about it. Its just fan-fiction after all. Nothing too serious. I could see if it was a story that was actually yours and you made up the characters, the plot, and everything and it belonged solely to you but that's not the case with FF.

By: Antony

Antony — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:06:46 +0000

Hi, I hope people are still likely to view this thread! Jonathan Bailey's article is very interesting and useful, but still leaves me with some questions about something I'm working on. I am very interested in this because I have written a novel which, by its very nature, could be construed as plagiarism. Basically, it is a Star Trek parody – though I'd like to make it clear that I am Star Trek fan myself (the Kirk generation, that is) and the novel does celebrate the greatness of the series, as well and gently lampoon it. It features characters who are very similar to Kirk and crew, and this is a feature of the story. By that I mean it is not just a parody, but it is vital to the plot that the characters are so similar to the cast of Star Trek. There are also a couple of 20th Century characters who know all about – and are fans of – Star Trek, and are amazed to see these Kirk-like characters when they are accidentally zapped into the future. Anyway, I know how rubbish the idea sounds, but that's not the point! The point is, am I allowed to actually refer to the characters from the series? The characters in my novel do have different names (eg John T. Kork, Spoll, Sulin) and are definitely not the characters from Star Trek, but the similarity is obvious both to the audience and to the 20th century characters. In short, I have constantly refered to Star Trek, its characters and technologies, but the characters and technologies actually present in my story are different, so I haven't actually nicked anything from Star Trek, I've just refered to it. But I have refered to it by name. Is this plagiarism or breach of copyright? Any advice on this would be very welcome!

By: Jessica

Jessica — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:17:46 +0000

Ok, I see your point, some people just add or "fix" one scene or character. But, not all writers do that. Some

fan fics, in fact, only share some original characters or scenes, but ultimatley are absolutley different from the plot of the original piece of work.

Also, most writers uses OC's, original characters, instead of just the characters of the original movie, cartoon, show, or book.

Most people who write fan fic are just trying to express their opinions of the the story might be better if it

was written this way instead of that way.

By: The Myspace Problem - PlagiarismToday

The Myspace Problem - PlagiarismToday — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:54:11 +0000

[...] still see the worst issue with forums and community sites. However, fan fiction plagiarism creates a whole new set of problems beyond the scope of this [...]

By: Plagiarism | life in the garden of eden.

Plagiarism | life in the garden of eden. — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:35:38 +0000

[...] Fan Fiction Plagiarism at Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey astutely noted: “With fan fiction, the author doesn’t [...]