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de Zwart, Melissa --- "‘Someone is angry on the internet’: copyright, creativity and control in the context of fan fiction" [2017] ELECD 299; in Richardson, Megan; Ricketson, Sam (eds), "Research Handbook on Intellectual Property in Media and Entertainment" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 132

Book Title: Research Handbook on Intellectual Property in Media and Entertainment

Editor(s): Richardson, Megan; Ricketson, Sam

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781784710781

Section: Chapter 5

Section Title: ‘Someone is angry on the internet’: copyright, creativity and control in the context of fan fiction

Author(s): de Zwart, Melissa

Number of pages: 18

Abstract/Description:

These days, if someone is angry on the internet, it is likely to be about the perceived delay in the release of the latest Game of Thrones episode, how long it is taking George RR Martin to deliver the next instalment in the book series or the fact that a favourite character has been killed off, either in the book, the television series or both. But Martin is angry about something else, and not just the intense criticism he has faced lest he die before the books are finished, but rather the production of fan fiction based on his works (although, as we shall see, there may be some connection between the two issues). In 2010 Martin weighed in to the ongoing debate regarding whether authors should be prepared to ‘share’ their created worlds and characters and to allow others to create fan fiction which celebrates, extends or subverts those worlds. Martin takes issue with the very term ‘fan fiction’, explaining that when in the past he admitted to having written fan fiction himself, that meant ‘stories written by fans for fans, amateur fiction published in fanzines’ not ‘fiction set in someone else’s universe using someone else’s characters’. He explains that the essence of the matter for him is consent and that there are real legal and financial risks for authors who allow others to use their worlds.