This week: The Rights and Wrongs of Fan Fiction Edited by: Kit  
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Have you ever written a fan fiction piece? Why/why not?
Reading and writing fan fiction can be a lot of fun, but it does operate in grey territory, legally speaking.
This week's Action/Adventure Newsletter is all about the rights and wrongs of fan fiction.
Kit |
Do you ever read fan fiction? I quite enjoy it. My journey into that genre began when the final season of Game of Thrones turned out to be… not what I had hoped for. I clearly wasn’t alone. Out there on the Internet popped up different endings, and I had good fun reading some of them. Many were more satisfying than what the series gave us – plenty were actually rather good, in harmony with the book series and with excellent character development.
From there I ventured into different worlds. It seems as though there is fan fiction of pretty much every movie, TV series and book series. If it exists, there is probably someone writing fan fiction about it. Some of the authors stay close to the source material; others take it in wild directions. If you want a female Harry Potter who’s a lawyer and dating Voldemort you can probably find it somewhere. There are short stories, artworks, audio pieces and even novel-length contributions. Indeed, some fan fiction novels are millions of words in length, and that’s a lot of love and effort on behalf of the authors.
Fan fiction is in an unusual, grey territory when it comes to its legality. Using characters, settings and storylines others have created is copyright infringement, but transformative works that alter the original copyrighted work so significantly that they create a very different piece may avoid actual infringement. Where that line is drawn is a matter of debate. Many fantasy authors are inspired by the works of, say, Tolkien and stories where the adventure begins with a meeting in an inn between a diverse bunch of fantasy heroes are hardly uncommon. Fifty Shades of Grey began its existence as a Twilight fan fic, but few would recognise it as such.
Many fan fics stay closer to the original material and the authors could, technically, get sued for placing those fics online. Few of the original creators bother to do so – even if some have openly expressed their discontent. Regardless of legalities, authors can be protective of their work and are emotionally invested in their characters; it can be unpleasant to see those characters portrayed in a different way than intended – than what feels right to the person who brought them onto the page, or the screen. Generally, though, most won’t take action unless fan fiction authors try to financially benefit from their work. That seems like the sensible approach. It is one thing to inspire someone; quite another when they try to profit from your creative vision.
The grey area fan fiction operates in becomes murkier when we enter that part of it that is based on real people – singers and athletes, and so on. There are quite a few fan fics based on romances between boyband members, for example. They are not my cup of tea, but even just on one website – AO3 – about one boy band – BTS – there are over 200,000 fan fic stories out there, so it’s clearly a popular pastime for both writers and readers.
It must be very weird for a person when people write fictional stories about them. They can be made to be the hero or the villain. Their real relationships are often dismissed, and they are written into romance and often quite spicy scenes with whoever the writer wants them to be with. I have had it happen to me once – a complete stranger wrote an 18+ story about me and posted it online. It felt surreal and rather unnerving. Who was this person and why did they do that? I can’t even imagine having thousands of pieces out there where I am made into whatever random strangers enjoy writing me as.
Sometimes these types of works end up published. Sometimes they’re actually successful. After by Anna Todd was originally published on Wattpad as a One Direction/Harry Styles fan fic. The original has been read more than a billion times. It was even made into a movie. On a much smaller scale I just found a comedy/satire novel titled Chasing Pole, published under the quite obvious pen name of Raymond Sweek (Ray Sweek – Race Week), which follows the adventures of Formula 1 drivers Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. As a Formula 1 fan I confess to being slightly curious as apparently it’s very funny. Is it right, though?
As said, I would be pretty unsettled if people wrote romance stories about me, or portrayed me in a completely different way than I truly am. It’s also rather disrespectful to disregard people’s marriages, possibly write their children out of their life.. It may seem harmless, but I can understand that opinions differ.
There are artists and athletes who find it funny and even entertaining that such stories are written about them. There are those who just ignore it. And there are those who are displeased. I couldn’t see myself writing a piece like that and I think that for those who do, respect is key. It’s perfectly possible to set a story in the world of Formula 1 and the madness that surrounds it, but to come up with your own drivers. Or to create your own fictional boy band. And if they happen to be slightly like your favourites, well… that’s where it’s that grey territory once more.
Inspiration can come from anywhere and, indeed, anyone. I don’t think it’s such a crime to envision a different ending to Game of Thrones, or to wonder how you’d fare if you received a letter to Hogwarts. Just be sure to be respectful and stay within the lines. You’re playing with other people’s creations, and possibly the names and reputations of real people, so treat them with respect. And maybe, just maybe, don’t go writing 18+ stories about a not-at-all-famous stranger, because that isn’t as fun a surprise as one might imagine…
Kit
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The Action/Adventure Newsletter Team
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Action/Adventure: November 05, 2025 Issue [#13436]
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