#they don't promote original works or even allow writers to profit off of those original works

[thexnightmarexgarden]

Uh, AO3 is a plague on society and I think it should burn, actually .3.

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Technically the law isn't on your side:

If they did want to sue, they could sue and win.

Does it mean it's always good press to do this and in the author's favor? No. Pissing off your fanship isn't a good idea. And the majority of fan works is good press and free promotion.

But is it in a fanfiction writer's interest to find a fandom where the author doesn't care and actually celebrates fan fiction and fan works? Probably.

Fan fiction, for those who don't want to click the article is a DERIVATIVE work. Derivative works, as proven by the very litigious Disney Corp and the coming of Steam Boat Willie into public domain, and them trying to claim Mickey under trademark, do belong to the author and their estate until the Disney corp lost a case battle to keep it even longer.

Other estates have also sued as well.

Being a complete nerd, I did read the basic copyright law on copyright.gov and it does define fair use (and talk about international copyright somewhat too. Berne convention). Fan Fiction isn't it.

If you want to say FU to the original author who says please don't, that's up to you, your conscience, your wallet.

And there is nothing wrong with mucking around with fan fiction in order to up your writing ability or whatever, but yeah, technically by copyright law it is illegal.

I know there is an idea that if you don't gain profit from a derivative work, it's not illegal, but that's not the case.

There is case law where a person gave away a key spoiler to a book rendering the original book less likely to be sold *in a quote* and then the author sued the person who gave away the spoiler and won the case.

If you don't believe actual case law and a website meant to teach law students. Then there is the more fun "Legal Eagle" and he's literally a intellectual properties lawyer. He'll go over fan works, transformative, and so on for you.

But yeah, it technically is illegal if one can't put it under parody. (Why Weird Al can get away with it, but he checks with the copyright owners personally anyway to make sure there are no hurt feelings).

That said, it's probably not a good idea to send fan works directly to the author unless they request it equally for legal reasons. They appreciate you and all, but generally authors highly discourage it even if they allow fan works. There are some loose and fast exceptions. Takeuchi Naoko of Sailor Moon fandom, actually likes and loves it, and some Japanese creators, but for the US and Canada and the UK and probably NZ and AU–not a good idea.

And generally pictures of thing that's a novel will be OK. But written works to an author that writes, not always a good idea.

What about 50 Shades of Grey? Started as a fan work, but was scrubbed hard of any of the original material. Also Stephanie Meyer is a better person, like her work or not, since she could have sued, but didn't.

Yes, the thing about identity theft is a hyperbole. But the idea it's not illegal is also wrong. Find the author that loves you.

Authors Convinced Fanfic is Illegal/Requires Permission

Terry Goodkind: “Copyright law dictates that in order for me to protect my copyright, when I find such things, I must go out and hire lawyers to threaten these people to make them stop, and to sue them if they don’t.”

John Scalzi: “Let's remember one fundamental thing about fanfic: Almost all of it is entirely illegal to begin with. It's the wild and wanton misappropriation of copyrighted material”

Diana Gabaldon: “OK, my position on fan-fic is pretty clear: I think it’s immoral, I know it’s illegal, and it makes me want to barf whenever I’ve inadvertently encountered some of it involving my characters.”

Robin Hobb: “Fan fiction is like any other form of identity theft. It injures the name of the party whose identity is stolen.”

Anne Rice: “I do not allow fan fiction. The characters are copyrighted. It upsets me terribly to even think about fan fiction with my characters. I advise my readers to write your own original stories with your own characters. It is absolutely essential that you respect my wishes.”

Anne McCaffrey: “there can be no adventure/stories set on Pern at all!!!!! That's infringing on my copyright and can bear heavy penalties…indiscriminate usage of our characters, worlds, and concepts on a 'public' media like electronic mail constitute copyright infringement AND, which many fans disregard, is ACTIONABLE!”

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro: “No. Absolutely not. It is also against federal law.”

Lynn Flewelling: “Whether you are writing about Seregil or Fox Mulder or Sherlock Holmes, if you do not have legal permission from the author, their estate, or publisher, then you are violating US copyright law. It is creative piracy. Doesn't matter how many disclaimers you put on, or if you're being paid. It. Is. Illegal.”

Someone Else, elaborated in the notes