The Transformative World of Fan Fiction: When an Author’s Ownership Collides With Fair Use?

• In Event: Policy Approaches to Access and Use of Information

Abstract

This paper examines the tensions between authors and fans when those fans re-design, re-imagine and re-purpose characters and worlds in ways the original author never intended. Using several legal decisions in fair use cases, I focus on the transformative nature of fan fiction and describe how this element of transformation can negate a copyright holder’s authority and ownership over how his or her characters and worlds are altered. Authors and media corporations that maintain copyrights on creative work are constantly navigating how to encourage artistic expression to generate attention, additional profits and further the fandoms’ passion, while also maintaining ownership and control when disapproving or offensive creations arise. This tension of ownership and control rarely brings fan fiction into the courtroom, but when it does, examining the transformative nature of fan works can embolden fans to explore and experiment with their favorite characters in ways the original author never intended.

Author

• Gino Canella, University of Colorado at Boulder