Stephanie McGrath
Fan Fiction and Their Communities
Fan Fiction first stared by fans of the television show Star Trek and The X-Files, spawning a whole communities whose sole purpose was devoted to discussing these works and wonder about the infinite “what if’s” these shows provided (Carper 1). Over the years fan fiction has expanded, including over nine types of fan fiction, the most popular being literature. Sheenagh Pugh argues that “fan [fiction] happens in the gaps between canons, the unexplored or insufficiently explored territory” and without these gaps fan fiction would not exist (Leavenworth 70). Fans enjoy discussing their favorite works among one another and this creates a community knows as a “fandom”.
Many terms have been created that explore the many reoccurring themes and tropes found in fan fiction. “Ships” are a term used to define a relationship in a work that does not exists, but one in which fans believe should exist. For example, in the Harry Potter series, many people were “ships” for a romantic relationship between characters Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Another term is “slash fiction” known as a subgenre of fan fiction dedicated to “[featuring] homosexual relationships between otherwise heterosexual characters”(McCradle 435). Harry Potter fan fiction, featuring over five hundred thousand stories on FanFiction.net, has many examples of these “sexually explicit and nonheteronormative” stories (De Kosnick 122). There are stories of relationships between Harry Potter and Ron Weasly, Harry and Draco Malfoy, Harry and Severus Snape and even Harry and Lord Voldemort (Harry Potter 1). Harry Potter is one of the biggest fandom’s to date because the books were published at the arrival of the Internet. This fandom has created a huge amount of material available on the Internet, the most popular websites being The Leaky Cauldron, Mugglenet, Veritaserum, HPana and the Harry Potter Lexicon (Schwabach 423). J. K. Rowling has said that she has explored these websites, declaring that The Harry Potter Lexicon is her favorite, “this is such a great site that I have been known to sneak into a internet café while out writing and check a fact, then go and buy a book”(Schwabach 117).
The question many authors and fans struggle with is whether or not fan fiction interferes with copyright. Aaron Schwabach in Fan Fiction and Copyright: Outsider Works and Intellectual Property says that, “plagiarizing may be unethical, but not illegal”(8). Some works of fan fiction may infringe on copyright, because characters can be copyrighted but even this copyright is limited and unclear. For an author their “characters may be [their] intellectual property, but [their] copyright in the characters does not mean that no one else can touch them; they are protected but not untouchable”(7). Enforcing the intellectual rights against fans can be difficult, because authors run the risk of alienating fans when enforcing their authorial rights. Few authors want to risk this relationship with fans unless their livelihood is at stake. Fans and the “fandom [are] the most powerful marketing tool a work of fiction can have” (8). Fan fiction has proved to be very helpful to aspiring authors, allowing them to receive advice and criticism from other authors and readers (Parish 219).
A new development has been made on whether or not fan fiction authors should be paid for their work. A company named FanLib, which was attacked by the fan community, made an attempt at commercialization. There is also a risk of a “sugar hill moment” where “an outsider takes up subculture’s invention and co modifies it for the mainstream before insiders do” (De Kosnik 122). People believe that this endeavor will not be successful due to the sexually explicit content, which is surprising considering how well the romance genre does in the literature market (Thomas 230). Fan fiction is an immediate source that can help ease the long publishing wait between books from your favorite author. The “fandom is fragmented and fragmentary, just as it is self-perpetuating, itself a continual work in progress that cannot be shut down” and it is safe to say that it is here to stay (Busse and Hellekson 8).
Works Cited
Busse, Kristina, and Karen Hellekson, eds. Fan Fiction and Communities in the Age of the Internet. North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2006. Print.
Carper,Tess. “Authors Improve Skills by Writing Fan Fiction.” The Capitol. 5 Feb. 2007: A1+. Print.
De Kosnik, Abigail. “Should Fan Fiction Be Free?” Cinema Journal 48:4 (2009): 118-24. Print.
“Harry Potter.” Fanfiction.net: Unleash Your Imagination. 2012. 11 Mar. 2012. Web.
Leavenworth, Maria. “Variations, Subversions, and Endless Love: Fan Fiction and the Twilight Saga.” Bringing Light to Twilight. Ed. Giselle Liza Anatol. New York: Macmillan, 2011 69-81. Print.
McCardle, Meredith. “Fan Fiction, Fandom, and Fanfare: What’s All the Fuss?” Boston University Journal of Science and Technology Law 9:2 (2003): 433-71. Print.
Parrish, Juli. “Encouraging Feedback: Responding to Fan Fiction at Different Colored Pens.” Writing and the Digital Generation. Ed. Heather Urbanski. North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2010. 213-225. Print.
Schwabach, Aaron. Fan Fiction and Copyright: Outsider Works and Intellectual Property Protection. Great Britain: Ashgate, 2011. Print
Schwabach, Aaron. “The Harry Potter Lexicon and The World of Fandom: Fan Fiction, Outsider Works, and Copyright.” University of Pittsburgh Law Review 70:3 (2009): 387-434. Print.
Thomas, Angela. “Fan Fiction Online: Engagement, Critical Response and Affective Play Through Writing.” Australian Journal of Language and Literacy 29:3 (2006): 226-39. Print.