Question

[miguelsanchez55]

My Fellow Authors,

In my few years of writing, I copywrite protect my stories. I'm reading Harry Potter and The Rising of the Dark plus I am looking foward to reading Myr's Harry Potter stories.

 

My question is this. I know Harry and his crew were first created by J.K. Rowling and now we see them here. Since the characters are now in a story written by a different author, does this constitute a violation?

 

I'm not accusing by any means, but asking a question that I've thought about since I've been writing.

 

Take care,

Mike :sword:

[Myr]

You are asking about "FanFictions". Look at the disclaimor on the top of every story... or go over to fanfiction.net

[James Bond]

Legally speaking this can be a bit dodgy, as she and her publisher has copyright to Harry Potter & Co.

 

But: There are ample evidence that both she, her agent and her publishers are aware of the fan-fic stories that abound about Harry and Harry's world, and have chosen not to act, as long as no effort is made to make a profit.

 

To keep up a copyright, reasonable effort to enforce a copyright must be made. Their decision not to act on fan.fic can therefore be legally regarded as a permission to publish fan.fic. stories about Harry Potter, as long as:

-No profit will be made

-No extensive quotes from her books are used

-No attempt is made to represent her work as your own.

 

So read and enjoy, maybe write one yourself, if you so feel.

 

BTW, each fan.fic. generates a copyright protection of their own, so she may not use their figures and plots without the authors' permission (which should be gladly given, I think).

 

On the other hand, if Rowlings request a story to be pulled, the smart thing would be for an author/site owner to do so.

And selling HP stories is a BIG no-no.

 

Hope this helps,

007

[Myr]

Fan Fiction amounts to free advertising... after all... if some fan fic interests you're likely to go find the original work it's based on (or already have it)

[James Bond]

And that is probably why Rowlings & Co haven't gone after them, that and possibly fear of bad publicity.

 

But try to make money on HP without proper consent, and they will go after you hammer and tong.

They have done so, and most likely will again.

 

But one thing I didn't make quite clear in my first post - be d*mn certain you give proper credit in the disclaimer/copyright notice.

 

That way, even if they can force you to pull the story (provided they ever want to), there is little or no chance of them seeking nor getting economic compensation.

 

Then you can all read and write HP fan fic with a good conscience.

 

And do take the time to read the original books - they're worth it (and way better than the movies, IMHO).