Fanfiction a sin?

[thestudentAD]

Sorry to add this real late to the discussion, but say that we get ideas from watching movies or books or playing games about stories? Alter the universe in the fanfiction (And put up a disclaimer) and write about alternative things or something like that? Is that a sin? I’m a Knight of Columbus and I’ve been having thoughts of writing fanfiction for awhile. One idea is of a Xenomorph from Alien starting to think like a man and recoil in horror at the procreation of his species as well as his own dark creator

 

[Viki63]

Sorry to add this real late to the discussion, but say that we get ideas from watching movies or books or playing games about stories? Alter the universe in the fanfiction (And put up a disclaimer) and write about alternative things or something like that? Is that a sin? I’m a Knight of Columbus and I’ve been having thoughts of writing fanfiction for awhile. One idea is of a Xenomorph from Alien starting to think like a man and recoil in horror at the procreation of his species as well as his own dark creator

You could make up your own alien creature, and leave the Alien franchise out of it.

Writing fanfic seems like a waste of talent to me (though as a previous poster pointed out, it doesn’t take much talent to compose a sex scene using Bert and Ernie or whoever.) If you can write, create a character who is your own. Your idea is kind of a cool one.

.

 

[Joe_5859]

Sorry to add this real late to the discussion, but say that we get ideas from watching movies or books or playing games about stories? Alter the universe in the fanfiction (And put up a disclaimer) and write about alternative things or something like that? Is that a sin? I’m a Knight of Columbus and I’ve been having thoughts of writing fanfiction for awhile. One idea is of a Xenomorph from Alien starting to think like a man and recoil in horror at the procreation of his species as well as his own dark creator

I’m not sure why people pose this question in terms of it being a “sin”. We have a moral obligation to follow the just laws of our temporal government. That (generally) includes copyright laws. So the question to ask is really “Is it legal?” And that is going to depend on a lot of factors.

I think there is a huge difference between ripping off someone’s characters and simply using another work of art as inspiration for your own. Yours sounds more like it is inspired by these other works than being “fan fiction.” In any case, even if it is fan fiction, it doesn’t take much to change some of the details and make it your own. It worked out quite well for the author of “Fifty Shades of Grey”.

 

[Kay_Cee]

As an author, I’ve always felt free to quote anything that’s public domain, like Shakespeare or a public domain Bible.

You’d be surprised what’s copyrighted. Even the lyrics to “Happy Birthday to You” are copyrighted.

I ran into a bit of trouble in my latest novel. I wanted to use the “Sitting in a Tree” poem, but I couldn’t find out if it’s copyrighted. I avoided the problem by composing my own poem–and it turned out to be more appropriate for the story. So, by refusing to violate a possible copyright, I got something better for my book!

 

[Joe_5859]

As an author, I’ve always felt free to quote anything that’s public domain, like Shakespeare or a public domain Bible.

You’d be surprised what’s copyrighted. Even the lyrics to “Happy Birthday to You” are copyrighted.

I ran into a bit of trouble in my latest novel. I wanted to use the “Sitting in a Tree” poem, but I couldn’t find out if it’s copyrighted. I avoided the problem by composing my own poem–and it turned out to be more appropriate for the story. So, by refusing to violate a possible copyright, I got something better for my book!

Actually, as of last year, “Happy Birthday” is officially in the public domain. It probably always should have been.

 

[Kay_Cee]

Actually, as of last year, “Happy Birthday” is officially in the public domain. It probably always should have been.

My mother said the people who copyrighted it didn’t even write it. They just took a popular song and copyrighted it so they could receive royalties every time it was used in a book, radio show, or movie.

Glad to hear this is no longer the case!

 

[Joe_5859]

My mother said the people who copyrighted it didn’t even write it. They just took a popular song and copyrighted it so they could receive royalties every time it was used in a book, radio show, or movie.

Glad to hear this is no longer the case!

I heard that as well. It always struck me as a case of studios preferring to just pay the royalties rather than bother with financing a lawsuit to see if they really needed to pay anything at all.