Fanfic: Sharing With Respect

Have you ever used an image that’s protected under creative commons? Well, I personally think they’re the bee’s knees because holy moly those things are so useful. And there are a bajillion levels of nuance to those bad boys. There are so many levels of permissions that people can tag onto their artwork to try and protect it how they’d like it to be protected.

And…

Artist’s creative desires should be respected.

As such, Fanfic is a sensitive subject to some because the content contrived is directly related to the character/world-building of another artist. Some creators can understandably get upset when someone else profits off of their brainchildren. It’s hard not to get irritated when you see someone profitting off your own hard work.

But all the same. Fanfic is an important step in learning to create effective stories.

Tell me, as a writer, how did you start out? Did you start writing full novels? Or did you consider the what if’s of your favorite movie/book/tv show?

It’s for this reason that I, personally, hesitate to shut down fanfic creators. And I wonder if there could be some way for artists to more accurately express how they feel about fellow content creators using their characters in scenarios? Something more like creative commons?

For example, I do find it a bit strange to have someone latch onto my characters so much that they imagine them in scenarios beyond my scope of creation. However, if a fan does imagine my characters, and write about them, haven’t I done my job as a writer properly?

I think the thing that irritates me the most is those who dominate the fanfic of a specific story. Not to name any names (coughs loudly) but I’m sure you know of at least one creator who’s profited off the fanfic they made off a work. And then they turned around to shut down anyone who might riff off of their fanfic.

I lack the words to express this properly. But, my closest approximation would be:

How could you be that much of a pissant?

This is why I point to creative commons as an acceptable option. If authors of original works stamped their texts with a “you can edit this” but only if you also allow others to edit it kind of thing, then we’d really be getting somewhere, wouldn’t we?

What do you think? What’s the best solution? And how can we let people learn to create while still respecting the author’s wishes?