Can you sell fanfiction

Fast forward to October But this is where it turns quite strange. I admit, I was in a quandary. I could not understand how this could happen. Sleepless nights. This continued through December and into January as I discovered a total of 21 works! Within those works they even pulled a great number of ideas from the above mentioned Moonshiner the Wolf.

Turns out one of the writers from this organization wrote a sci-fi book of his own. He attended creative writing classes with his friend, and that friend wrote a novel, copyrighted in that I purchased and read. And it does not end there, unfortunately. After all, the perpetrators earn millions. If not, that is not a fair shake because these cases are rarely won, and the one infringed upon pays tens of thousands just to start the process.

Thank you for your time, sincerely, Nancy Reil Riojas, August 5, Thanks for commenting — the experience you describe is one many writers fear. Yes, ideas are much harder to protect, but this varies. Given that you seem to have a specific list of stolen assets and a timeline of when the thefts likely occurred, it could be well worth your time to make preliminary contact with a legal professional and get their perspective on what to do next.

This was such a helpful guide! I still want to pose a question. If I sold a limited release of a physical copy of one of my fan fictions, do you think I would be okay? The story itself is original, although it uses the established world and characters. A lot of companies will pursue legal action on this general principle, even if fan work is excellent and they have no plans to make anything similar. So, certainly there are still potential issues there. Hello, Sir.

I would like to know what kind of copyright should I choose if I am publishing my fanfiction on Wattpad? There are no options for derivative work or parody there are options like Creative Commons attributions and Non commercial der. Please help. I may be wrong, but this would follow the idea that a lot of protections for derivative works are defences to an accusation rather than something you declare ahead of time.

Really interesting article, but could you confirm in your opinion whether it is ok to write a reimagining of a published work? That said, everything passes into public domain eventually, so if a piece is old enough, this would absolutely be viable. You can, for instance, do pretty much whatever you like with Sherlock Holmes.

What would happen if a novella was self published on the likes of lulu. Would it infringe copyright? Yes, that would likely be the case. Things like character and franchise names are very heavily protected.

That said, this tends to be a lot more serious when money is changing hands. Hi Rob What about books that have been made into movies, does the copyright for the books extended to the movie?? I would think so but to whoever has the film rights which might be someone rich and famous rather than some like Kurtzmann.

Singers like Bono and Sting own all sorts of rights to stuff. So I am led to believe. A lot of what an author is getting paid for when a book is adapted into a film is the right for someone else to use their intellectual property in certain ways. How much trouble does this invite? Oh well. Thanks anyway! Either way, it sounds like you have a healthy perspective on what has been — if nothing else — a great writing exercise.

The article linked below may be useful in getting the most out of this experience as possible. Hello Rob Thanks for the detailed and critically important article. I guess you have been questioned this inquiry on several occasions and in different styles, so apologies if I am seeking it from a different perspective.

Especially that in novels it is preferable to assign first and surname to make the character more realistic … thanks for answering this puzzling question. In theory, this is fine.

As you say, there are only so many names. In the case of actual coincidence, this is very unlikely, but worth mentioning in this context. My questions concern a non-commercial fanfiction to be made available on the internet for free.

It also contains a number of original characters by the fanfiction author. The fanfic has several hundreds of thousands of words, and consists of an original, complex, and creative story that nevertheless fits seamlessly into the story lines of the original franchises, explaining and reinterpreting certain aspects of the originals in unexpected ways. All owners of the original properties are independent commercially of each other.

Do we need permission from the author of the textual fanfiction on which our graphics fanfiction is based? What if the author is not responsive? On another line, is it OK to use images from the original works, such as cut-outs of the animated characters from the video game, or cut-outs from screenshots from the video of human actors from the TV show, or background scenery images?

Of course the context would be different from the original scenes. What of using new artwork, but where characters and even scenery are still obviously inspired or even clearly recognizable? What if the scenery that was used in the TV series is one from reality, for instance a certain famous place in the real world?

What if the scenery is from an unknown but real place? What if it is redrawn from that place? Thanks for the kind words and your questions. As regards the original work, certainly anything directly from it — such as images, iconic phrases, or character names — are likely to be protected.

Real-world places are real world places, and your use of them could be justified, but re-drawing a specific shot from a show would be inadvisable. There are going to be strong back story plot similarities apparent to someone very familiar with the original, but are these similarities actually enough to make it illegal?

My question is: would it be safe to accept donations? For instance, if I wrote a derivative story from the work of J. K Rowling, and decided to make it available for others to read, could I safely ask for a donation? Thanks for such a great question. While there is a growing effort to make this area of law clearer for artists, the only totally safe method at the moment is to avoid using protected properties.

To be fair, a lot of people play that game successfully; fan fiction is a thriving market in which many people get paid and many people accept donations. If I started to make videos of ideas of my own and try to monetizes these videos, would I run into a problem if I just put a copyright fair use statement? Greetings Rob, I have desperately searched the web for any clues that will help me with my predicament. So far, your article and helpful answers seem like my best shot at getting an accurate answer to my own question.

You see, I would love to make a book series based off the setting of a video game. I would identify my own characters and have my own stories that ties nothing to the game. Except, this game is also based off of a popular Disney movie.

I would change the names of these places by the way Would I need to ask for a license or permission from the company that made the game or the movie? I could give more details if needed such as the name of the movie and game.

Thanks so much for your time and help. Only given elements of a work can really be protected, not the concepts behind them. In the spirit of this, it certainly sounds like you might be fine. For example, one would be fine depicting a school for witches and wizards — J.

Releasing a DVD would be next to impossible without legal dispute, as the rights to who can create and release works related to this property will be very clear and iron clad. While it would be difficult to make money from this type of fan fiction, you should certainly be able to put it in front of readers.

Hello, I started writing a story which is based on a game. In the story it has a few of the original characters as well as some characters which I had made up. There are many fan made videos out there based on this game. This is intended to be a fan fiction story and I was wondering what problems I may run into. Loved this article by the way. Wished that I had found it sooner.

My question is about my FanFiction story about the beloved T. I wrote the storyline twenty years after the Final episode of the series. Added new characters to the original cast. I tried to locate the creators of the show to ask permission but was not successful. Also, the fans have been wanting a Reunion Show or a Reboot of the show for a few decades now.

So I wrote one. Would really like to know if I will be getting in trouble or possibly sued for writing my FanFiction story. Thank you for your help. Looking forward to hearing from you soon. While the individual creators may no longer be involved with this property, various companies will have a financial interest in retaining ownership. That said, it might be worth contacting those companies rather than the creators. I think the problems you can expect to run into are covered in the article.

My advice would be to write this story with all the passion it invites and then to revisit it with the aim of altering or removing anything that gives you less than total ownership. Like I want those different characters to meet and coexist together. Can I keep all their original names but with a whole story I wrote without copywriting or should I just change the names? Those properties would still be protected.

Changing protected elements like names is a good idea. That said, this type of fan fiction tends not to attract legal attention unless offered for sale. I just wrote a fan fiction story that has Freddy, Jason, and Ash Williams.

Its a whole new story with existing and new characters I created from the movies and TV shows. Is there any issues you can see with this?

Unfortunately, yes; namely, the inclusion of Freddy, Jason, and Ash Williams. That said, it will probably depend what you want to do with your story. Offering your work for sale is generally where the problems begin. Visuals alone are not enough to make me want to see or buy something. I live with a low bar of expectation, so the best a company has to do to get me invested is putting heart and effort, or at least showing they tried to. Ex: Everyone else hates it, but i personally enjoyed The Female crew to the ghostbusters remake.

Fans are just expected to be the mindless rabble that blow their money and continue to do so. Fan-based creations help take away any frustration we feel towards that cycle. Yes it would be nice to make money for our hard work, but we know the risks. In the end, If big name companies still manage to make a profit to pay bills and keep food on the table. Then what are they really losing? It takes fan devotion and love to keep companies alive. Hence when you really look at it, has anyone ever heard a company going bankrupt or facing layoff trouble due to fanfics?

Some companies have admitted that false brand or real brand product placement has actually caused an increase in their sales. I see it like the episode of the simpsons when Marge became the listen lady. Fans know what the public enjoys, and create more of what they want. Ex: Tossing out the Popeye movie for the Emoji movie?! Those who put heart into their work brings stories to life. Some even admit their creations feel more like their sons or daughters, and its that reason why many have come to love a purple little dragon.

Inspiration births more inspiration, if money were the biggest point to go for… companies would just make endless emoji movies. So that says some small part of us is wanting to try, maybe push more on that side.

Lower our expectations. Learn everyone has their own way. We are not born into this world for people to serve us nor were we born to serve others. Yes taking the lazy bratty route seems the easiest, but you also set yourself up for dependency. I should know because i was like that myself. It took the love and discipline of my wife and doing things for myself that showed me i have strength to do and create.

Look not at hard work of acceptance and understanding as thanklesss and pointless. Take it more by video game standards, how can the character that is you get stronger if you only depend on small chunks of shared points. Love, Education, and Discipline are our stats we need to build in life, and the only way to truely earn that Exp is by doing. Patience is a virtue because much like cooking, if you rush it… it will end up cold, hard, and bland, or like most cartoons have proven with power blasting the cooking time, it ends in disaster.

Yes i suffer from boredom too, but i find ways to entertain myself. Ex: If i had to wait for the next book in a series to come out, i would actually look into other creations the author has done, or read other books and read multiple series until the due date. But my fan love never dwindled with time because there are always ways to entertain your mind.

I watched a youtube clip of that scene, and that had more to it because of His snake getting killed, meaning that was his last shred of immortality.

The relationships i support you on, you did those just fine. But even you had to have thoughts in your story of… what if Harry had given in and became The Dark masters vessel? Grab your torches and pitchforks! All of this is… As Phantomstrider on youtube puts it, Just my personal opinion. However, that being said… instead of standing there moaning and crying about it all.

I just choose to go my own path, and if fans choose to support my endeavors, that is of their own decision. Case in point,. At the end of the day, it comes to my decision on who did a better job and honestly… I love both movies. Because by the end of it, they still put in the work to make something original to go along with it and actually invest their own money to make it so.

A bootlegger is a true pirate, even in the name. Those are the ticket scalpers who will take an original item and bump up the price to sell to the desperate, or the ones who sneak into movie theaters with mini cameras just so they can make their own to sell to the public.

These are just my views and opinions. Thanks so much for your comments, Shadowolf. Thank you for this article. I have read through all the comments so I apologize in advance if I missed where you answered these questions. I have finished my first book in what will become a three volume historical fiction chronicling the human condition.

I plan on publishing for profit once the second is finished and the third is in the hopper. Thank you for that bit of wisdom by the by. Not publishing just as a one off. There are 4 times in the first book where I used a line from a song as background to start or shift a scene. Two are popular well known, two are local musicians.

I credit the bands in the dialogue or narration. Will I be overstepping? The second question is I have a character who does impersonations. Twice he says a recognizable line from a popular movie. If I self publish on Amazon and run into trouble can I not just change the offending lines if it comes up?

The book is over 80 words, All original plot, characters, dialogue. The questionable items amount to maybe words in total between all 6 items. I appreciate your input and thank you for providing such a valuable site. My fan-fic is a crossover of the DC and Marvel comic universes.

It mainly focuses on an original character of my own making and him trying to survive in an original story within this world. However interactions with already made characters is a given. Is this a major issue? Can I run with this story also if I can, do you think it could be sold or should be free. Sadly, you can expect a lot of problems if you try and sell this work, as comics are particularly packed with protected details lots of creators have contributed to their worlds over time, meaning a lot of characters are regarded as separate properties.

Happily, Marvel and DC are VERY easy to parody, since most readers interested in superhero stories know the major players, so you may only have to change some specific details to have something you can publish with no worries. Great article, I have a question: Can i write and sell fanfic if the original author have creative commons for their characters, stories? Creative commons is more of a system than a single state, allowing authors to waive certain rights for the benefit of other creators.

Because of this, the answer depends entirely on which rights a given author has decided to waive — some will allow you to write and sell fan-fic under certain conditions, some are happy for you to do anything you want, and some want considerations like credit for the initial idea. I apologize for not continuing to scroll through to see if this was answered already.

My question is about a story that is not technically fanfiction but about someone writing it, and I do want to publish it as a novel.

I could forego names and trademarks for a generic setting, but the point of it is to kind of explore the fan worlds that get vitriolic and obsessive by showing the main character to have fallen into that mindset. Thank you for any information you can provide. That said, you can get VERY close to recognizable properties without breaking any rules.

I am on Fanfiction. Forgive the long question as well and thank you for any help you can offer. One thing that can work is raising a stink on social media. Since such criticisms are public, groups tend to take them more seriously than internal complaints, so making your concerns plain where potential new users can see them and thus where it might actually impact the mods through their own chain of command may be a way to get your voice heard.

Of course, if online behavior is criminal in nature — e. They have written their own story making themselves the heroes. While I am certain that this book should not be published in order to sell because it would be a copyright infringement, I would love to print a copy for him and his friends as a keepsake.

Do you know of any companies that would allow me to do this? Thank you! Any thoughts? How would I go about publishing a fanfiction using characters that are real life people? I write fanfiction about rock bands and I was wondering if the same rules would apply.

I did enjoy the article by the way! Any help would be appreciated. Hello Mr. I am looking forward to write my first ever book which would be a fan fiction of 13 Reasons Why. Not looking for any money from it.

What are my options? Is there a definitive source to question the copyright status of a particular character or story? I am seeking info regarding Neil R Jones died in and his 24 stories on the Professor Jameson character.

Interested in copyright status if the stories and the character. Also Syracuse University was bequeathed his papers when he passed and they have 6 more unpublished stories. Very interested in copyright status of these. I have received dozens if contradicting opinions from those in the pulp community. The laws seem vague in areas. Is copyright automatically generated, or is there a department where I might seem these specific answers? Fanfiction is where I started to nurture and refine my talent for writing stories, and while some of my earlier works certainly gained mixed reviews, publishing my fandom stories has encouraged me to become a better, more prolific writer.

That being said, I have always been careful to avoid plagiarism in my fanfiction works by including disclaimers stating clearly that all recognizable characters, locations, or events are the sole property of their owners.

I have never, to my knowledge at least, encountered problems with copyright infringement; however, after reading this article, I am now worried that my determination to stay true to the events and characters of the story as much as possible may open me to legal problems in the future, especially if I start publishing my original stories as an author not fan fiction stories.

I publish my non-profit fan fiction stories on Fanfiction. By staying as close to the original work as possible, but including original characters OCs in the stories from time to time, have I been unintentionally committing copyright infringement? Hey Bob, Thanks for the information. I was just wondering if it would be safe if I write a Percy Jackson fanfiction on fanfiction.

Thanks, Henry Rodriguez. I have a question about charging for fan fiction. Would this be considered legal? I can give more details if you need them. Therefore, the characters are mainly K-Pop idols so there is no issue for names. There are some novels from which I would like to include whole storyline with some small variations such as personalities, and some set-ups like countries etc.

So, I was just wondering if it would be safe or not…Please provide your opinion about it. Thank you so much Sir. Fantastic article. Would this be okay? Mulan will not be marrying the army general, nor will she be returning home for at least twelve years, which is more accurate towards the actual tale of Mulan. I have included original characters as well. I have written another book that is now published and hope to reuse the Emperor in that book as the Emperor in Mulan, and the matchmaker is one of the beloved servant girls from my original book.

Do you think that I will be able to self publish this book? If I write a fanfic with original characters and settings, but still have some same terms and themes, and do not publish it, is it legal? The author of a favorite series of mine died before she could write the last book and left so many loose ends. Is it legal for me to publish the final book that I wrote for the rest of the fans?

Your email address will not be published. Don't subscribe All Replies to my comments Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.

The public domain If a thing is in the public domain then it can be used freely in any work. Comments I usually ignore copyright nonsense, as the notion of owning an idea makes no sense, at all. Hahaha Myself, I never directly take a character from another author, but I never feel worried about using different elements that may be well recognized.

Best, Rob. Hi Rob Thank you very much for the information, I just want to seek a bit of clarification to see where the story I am working on would fit. Any further advice you can give on this would be appreciated. Thanks RP. Hi Adam, Thanks for the kind words! Kindle Worlds offered the first chance for fan fiction writers to sell their works through Amazon, which makes sense because people already have Kindles or free apps to view their work.

While authors can get paid to publish, not all fan fiction is welcome. Amazon has teamed up with certain companies — owners of certain copyrighted titles — to allow fan fiction writers to base their stories off of. Everyone probably has a favourite movie star, musician, or personality.

While using their real names is crossing the copyright infringement line, you can use aspects of their personality under a different name. The ensure that your fan fiction takes off, write about a character that has mass appeal and online following.

The chapters of her story After accumulated over a billion total reads, which led to a publishing deal and an upcoming film adaptation with movie rights bought by Paramount.

She has since earned six figures from her fiction. By now, everyone knows E. Butter Roasted Turkey Breasts Bone-in turkey breasts are easy to find, and as impressive as a whole bird when you roast them in butter Roasted Potatoes and Shallots.

Boston Brown Bread. Haricots Verts Thin French Green Beans with Herb Butter By mixing butter, shallots, fresh herbs, and lemon juice together right in the serving bowl, you get Apple Crisp. Wild Rice Stuffing with Wild Mushrooms. Traditional Baked Stuffing This recipe was handed down by my great-grandmother. It is a family favorite that we make every Thanksgiving Sauteed Parsnips and Carrots with Honey and Rosemary. Creamy Potato and Leek Gratin Cutting leeks into large pieces they almost dissolve when thinly sliced gives them a presence equal Cinnamon Oat Crumble Topping This crunchy crumble is the perfect topping for an ice cream sundae, easy apple crumble, or our Build-Your-Own Cranberry Apple Crumble Pie.

Apple Crisp Perfect and Easy I adapted this from a year-old peach crisp recipe. Although it works well with peaches, it works even Apple Crisp II A simple dessert that's great served with ice cream. Easy Meatloaf This is a very easy and no fail recipe for meatloaf. It won't take long to make at all, and it's quite Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Crisp edges, chewy middles.

World's Best Lasagna It takes a little work, but it is worth it. Basic Homemade Bread If you'd like to learn how to bake bread, here's a wonderful place to start.

This easy white bread recipe The Best Canning Salsa This is a great use for tomatoes from the garden and nothing tastes better than homemade. Best Steak Marinade in Existence This is a family recipe that has been developed only over the last 5 years. In this short time it's made Easy Coleslaw Dressing A creamy coleslaw dressing that can be made with ingredients you already have!

You can pour it immediately Grandma's Baked Beans My mother has made these beans for years. This recipe pairs nicely with my macaroni salad recipe! The Best Pizza Dough This easy pizza dough recipe is the key to making an extraordinary homemade pizza. We use all-purpose Fresh rosemary and thyme The Best Steak Marinade We use this marinade for rib steaks, but can be used for almost any cut of beef. Judging from the weathered look of this Best Hamburger Ever These burgers are the best on the grill in the summertime.

Jam-packed with all kinds of stuff, and no