Post by Lady1Venus on Mar 18, 2009 16:15:07 GMT -5
Fanfiction
Fan fiction (often referred as fanfiction, fanfic, FF, fanon, or fic) is a term for stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work/fandom, rather than by the original creator. Works of fan fiction are not commissioned or even authorized by the original work's owner, creator, or publisher. Also they are almost never professionally published. Fan fiction, therefore, is defined by being both related to its subject's canonical fictional universe while simultaneously existing outside that universe.
History
Around 1965, the term "fan fiction" was used in a science fiction fandom to designate original, though amateur, works of science fiction published in science fiction fanzines, as differentiated from fiction that was professionally published by professional writers, but this usage is now obsolete. Modern definitions of the term exclude such entirely original writing from the category. Today, "fan fiction" writers are those who use characters and situations already created by other writers in order to develop their personal and preferred views of the story. For example, the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling has spawned an extensive fan fiction subgenre, in which the characters make choices and enjoy an afterlife that Rowling herself did not create, or deviate from the plotline of the actual books at a certain point, allowing a different route to be traveled.
The modern phenomenon of fan fiction as an expression of fandom and fan interaction was popularized and defined via the Star Trek fandom and fanzines published in the 1960s. The first Star Trek fanzine, Spockanalia, was published in 1967 and contained some fan fiction. In 1970, Mary Ellen Curtin, a Princeton University graduate researched the authors of various Star Trek fanfics, and her results showed an outstanding 83% female as opposed to 17% male writers.
A similar trend in Japan also began appearing around the 1960s and 1970s, where fan fiction is known as dôjin or dôjinshi, which mostly revolve around manga and anime. Manga authors like Shotaro Ishinomori and Fujiko Fujio formed dôjin groups such as Fujio's New Manga Party. At this time dôjin groups were used by artists to make a professional debut. This changed in the coming decades with dôjin groups forming as school clubs and the like. This culminated in 1975 with the Comiket in Tokyo.
Both Listproc and Usenet were invented in 1980, allowing public Internet-based gatherings of fans, and wider distribution of fan fiction; the internet as a whole would later become the most widely-used method of publication of fan fiction.
In 1981 Lucasfilms Ltd. sent out a letter to several fanzine publishers asserting Lucasfilm's copyright to all Star Wars characters and insisting that no fanzine publish pornography. The letter also alluded to possible legal action that could be taken against fanzines that did not comply. Later that year, the director and legal counsel of the Official Star Wars Fan Club sent fanzine publishers a set of official guidelines. Lucasfilms supported fan publications contingent on their upholding these guidelines.
The Gopher protocol was invented in 1991, and hosted some early fan fiction archives, but it has since been replaced by the World Wide Web, which was created a year later.
Fan fiction has become more popular and widespread since the advent of the World Wide Web. Many archives such as The Gossamer Project, which focuses primarily on X-Files fanfiction, were created, hosting specific sorts of stories, or stories for specific fandoms.
In 1998 FanFiction.Net came online. At the time of its initial creation, it accepted any sort of writing, original or fan fiction. It has since separated its original fiction section to another website and banned several subgenres, including explicitly sexual stories (referred to as "NC-17" before the Motion Picture Association of America chose to enforce its ownership of the MPAA ratings system), real person fiction, and stories featuring song lyrics (the latter two in order to avoid legal problems, including copyright infringement for unauthorized use of lyrics). This ability to self-publish fan fiction at a common archive, and the ability to review the stories directly on the site, became popular quite quickly. FanFiction.net now hosts millions of stories in dozens of languages, and is widely considered the largest and most popular fan fiction archive online.
Legality
Due fan fiction there are many legal issues involved with fan fiction, most prominently (but not exclusively) arising under United States copyright law.
Several famous authors have given their blessings to fanfiction, and noted they are "flattered" that people wanted to write their own stories based on their characters. However, some authors are working their best to prevent fan fiction based on any of their characters.
Most authors, however, seem to turn a 'blind eye' towards fan fiction. They don't voice their approval nor their disapproval either. In some cases this tolerance may be due to the fact that the internet can not take any legal action towards what is published on cyberspace. It would be too expensive and nearly an impossible task.
However, some authors/creators seem to view fan fiction as a form of free advertisement. Fandoms such as Star Wars and Firefly have increased dramatically because of the free fiction available online.
Fan fiction (often referred as fanfiction, fanfic, FF, fanon, or fic) is a term for stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work/fandom, rather than by the original creator. Works of fan fiction are not commissioned or even authorized by the original work's owner, creator, or publisher. Also they are almost never professionally published. Fan fiction, therefore, is defined by being both related to its subject's canonical fictional universe while simultaneously existing outside that universe.
History
Around 1965, the term "fan fiction" was used in a science fiction fandom to designate original, though amateur, works of science fiction published in science fiction fanzines, as differentiated from fiction that was professionally published by professional writers, but this usage is now obsolete. Modern definitions of the term exclude such entirely original writing from the category. Today, "fan fiction" writers are those who use characters and situations already created by other writers in order to develop their personal and preferred views of the story. For example, the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling has spawned an extensive fan fiction subgenre, in which the characters make choices and enjoy an afterlife that Rowling herself did not create, or deviate from the plotline of the actual books at a certain point, allowing a different route to be traveled.
The modern phenomenon of fan fiction as an expression of fandom and fan interaction was popularized and defined via the Star Trek fandom and fanzines published in the 1960s. The first Star Trek fanzine, Spockanalia, was published in 1967 and contained some fan fiction. In 1970, Mary Ellen Curtin, a Princeton University graduate researched the authors of various Star Trek fanfics, and her results showed an outstanding 83% female as opposed to 17% male writers.
A similar trend in Japan also began appearing around the 1960s and 1970s, where fan fiction is known as dôjin or dôjinshi, which mostly revolve around manga and anime. Manga authors like Shotaro Ishinomori and Fujiko Fujio formed dôjin groups such as Fujio's New Manga Party. At this time dôjin groups were used by artists to make a professional debut. This changed in the coming decades with dôjin groups forming as school clubs and the like. This culminated in 1975 with the Comiket in Tokyo.
Both Listproc and Usenet were invented in 1980, allowing public Internet-based gatherings of fans, and wider distribution of fan fiction; the internet as a whole would later become the most widely-used method of publication of fan fiction.
In 1981 Lucasfilms Ltd. sent out a letter to several fanzine publishers asserting Lucasfilm's copyright to all Star Wars characters and insisting that no fanzine publish pornography. The letter also alluded to possible legal action that could be taken against fanzines that did not comply. Later that year, the director and legal counsel of the Official Star Wars Fan Club sent fanzine publishers a set of official guidelines. Lucasfilms supported fan publications contingent on their upholding these guidelines.
The Gopher protocol was invented in 1991, and hosted some early fan fiction archives, but it has since been replaced by the World Wide Web, which was created a year later.
Fan fiction has become more popular and widespread since the advent of the World Wide Web. Many archives such as The Gossamer Project, which focuses primarily on X-Files fanfiction, were created, hosting specific sorts of stories, or stories for specific fandoms.
In 1998 FanFiction.Net came online. At the time of its initial creation, it accepted any sort of writing, original or fan fiction. It has since separated its original fiction section to another website and banned several subgenres, including explicitly sexual stories (referred to as "NC-17" before the Motion Picture Association of America chose to enforce its ownership of the MPAA ratings system), real person fiction, and stories featuring song lyrics (the latter two in order to avoid legal problems, including copyright infringement for unauthorized use of lyrics). This ability to self-publish fan fiction at a common archive, and the ability to review the stories directly on the site, became popular quite quickly. FanFiction.net now hosts millions of stories in dozens of languages, and is widely considered the largest and most popular fan fiction archive online.
Legality
Due fan fiction there are many legal issues involved with fan fiction, most prominently (but not exclusively) arising under United States copyright law.
Several famous authors have given their blessings to fanfiction, and noted they are "flattered" that people wanted to write their own stories based on their characters. However, some authors are working their best to prevent fan fiction based on any of their characters.
Most authors, however, seem to turn a 'blind eye' towards fan fiction. They don't voice their approval nor their disapproval either. In some cases this tolerance may be due to the fact that the internet can not take any legal action towards what is published on cyberspace. It would be too expensive and nearly an impossible task.
However, some authors/creators seem to view fan fiction as a form of free advertisement. Fandoms such as Star Wars and Firefly have increased dramatically because of the free fiction available online.