Hmmm…

Short discussion of 50 shades of grey on my twitter feed and someone said:

“There are also different forms of fanfic and some are more derivative than others” (for those who didn’t know, a good few I’ve spoken to over the past weeks, it was originally Twilight fanfic)

What do you think about that? I’m rather confused by the idea. either something is derivative or it isn’t. You wrie other people’s characters – and it doesn’t matter whether it’s Harry Potter on the Moon, it’s still Harry Potter, you write him because you like the character and find fun putting him in different situations than he’s been in in the books. You keep his innate characteristics (pompous gittyness, but then i’m biased and in the camp of “should’ve pushed him under a bus when he was 11, Voldie”).

If you then take that character and keep his characteristics and rename him – even though it’s still set on the moon, then there’s an ethical (if not a legal) question there?

I don’t know. All I know is that if—for example, never gonna happen—someone wrote a fanfiction novel about Rafe and Ambrose even if was set in Australia or something, and then changed their names and published it as “original” and made squillions I’d not be best pleased.

Interesting.