Amazon book / was: Re: Austin Live Theatre: Fan-Produced DS webseries ...

[Midnite]

Stephen King is a Dark Shadows fan, if he wrote a DS book would it be fanfiction?

That depends.  Mark Rainey's fantastic The Labyrinth of Souls, which he offered for a time as a free dl (Harper Collins blew it on that one) is ff, whereas his Dreams of the Dark is not.

[borgosi]

Because of was a free download and one wasn't? Or did one of the ok of the estate? If something is public domain and a fan writes a story inspired by it and doesn't charge anything for other fans to read it, is that fanfiction? Or just free fiction? I'm not asking to be a smartass, I really want to know what people think. If a fan writes a story today and next week the story that inspired it goes public domain does that story go from fanfiction to fiction?

I would think that most writers that write stories inspired by other stories, are fans of the stories that inspired them. Is the difference rights or profits? And if not that what?

[Sara Monster]

If something is public domain and a fan writes a story inspired by it and doesn't charge anything for other fans to read it, is that fanfiction? Or just free fiction?

I think generally, if it's:
online or in a zine = fan fiction
Officially published = fiction

Take the book Phantom of the Opera, which is in the public domain. Some writers have taken to writing novels based on the characters & events, along with their ideas for possible backstories or things to come. Several have published books of these stories (fiction) & others just make their work available online or via zines (fan fiction). Doesn't mean one is better than the other, of course.

Or to open up another can of worms in the fiction vs fan fiction debate, just see S.E.Hinton's Hawkes Harbor for example. One could make a claim that it's both fiction (as it was published) AND fan fiction (as it's obviously based on certain fiction characters). Sometimes it's hard to draw the line.

[borgosi]

I agree and now with e-books being a way for published mainstream books to be put out there the line becomes even less defined. The classic example would have to be the film "Nosferatu", as I sure we all know, it was based on Dracula with getting the rights. The courts said all copies were to be burned. Lucky for us they didn't get all of them. But could that classic be called fan film? I would think the same rules would apply for books or movies.

[The Doctor and K9]

Borgosi, for what it's worth, my definition of a fan story is one that is done primarily for the love of the show. Money may change hands, but they are usually at cost ventures; no profit is made. If I were hired by Big Finish to write a DS script, I would be a fan, but I would be writing as part of an assignment approved by the owners of the copyrights. In my definition, that's not fan fiction. It's a professional piece of licensed workwritten by someone who happens to be a fan.

[borgosi]

If you as a fan are given the assignment of writing a story, for pay, without it being approved by the owners of the copywrite. When it then be fan fiction? I know that would a rare event but it could happen.

[The Doctor and K9]

I neglected to post this some time ago. Amazon is also offering a very good Jonathan Frid interview for 99 cents.  It's part of a rather expensive book of horror interviews. I'll paste the information below. I thought it was well worth the money.

Product Description
This interview with actor Jonathan Frid (Barnabas Collins on TV's Dark Shadows) first appeared in Filmfax #83 (February/March 2001). An expanded version was later published in Halloween Candy (2001), incorporating additional material about Frid's childhood.

This Kindle ebook edition is the expanded version -- about 8,600 words.

Frid discusses his childhood, his early inspirations and school days acting, his Shakespearean work, Dark Shadows, Oliver Stone's Seizure, his one-man shows, his philosophy of life, and much more.

If you'd like this interview in print form, it's available in Thomas M. Sipos's horror collection book, Halloween Candy.

http://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Frid-Interview-Shadows-ebook/dp/B004E113O8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1297641150&sr=1-3

[Midnite]

If it's published with legal permission from the copyright owner, it's not fan fic.
If it's based on a work that's in the public domain, it's not fan fic.
If it's a parody or critical analysis, it's not fan fic.

[Nancy]

Amazon is primarily a distributor.  They do not have the resources to check the copyright rights or wrongs of any publication or item.  That's up to the person who is working with Amazon to distribute the product.   It could be legit but I don't recall reading about its existence in ShadowGram or elsewhere.

To answer the question about fan fiction - my understanding is that fan fiction is defined as fiction fans write to fill in the gaps or add to the "canon" of a story written by professional writers.  Of course, fan fiction can and has wandered outside of canon in fandom.  Fan fiction is created and shared within a fandom and if sold in a physical fanzine, the amount of the sale is normally just enough to cover the publication costs involved.  Technically, it's a violation of copyright but in our universe, Dan Curtis Productions has looked the other way even to the point where fanzines are sold at the fests right in the dealer's room on open tables.  Most fanfiction is written by non professional writers and shared on boards and mailing lists.

Nancy

[Nancy]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d.html/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/191-8218707-4756164?ref_=sr_1_4&s=books&qid=1297660282&a=B004BG5R8Y&sr=1-4

Check out someone trying to sell one of Kathleen Resch's fanzines!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

$125.00!! Are they insane?!

And I had no idea that people could sell such stuff on Amazon. Through their partners I've seen used books, CDs, DVDs, etc. - but never old fanzines...

[Sara Monster]

And I had no idea that people could sell such stuff on Amazon.

Oh sure, there are lots of old zines for sale on amazon & other online book stores (I've purchased a few 'cheaper' ones there myself). The sites don't seem to mind their 'unofficialness', as there's always a market for them, old & rare as they are.

[The Doctor and K9]

I don't see a problem with 3rd party sellers selling fanzines as collectibles at whatever cost they think the market would bear. These were allowed/ignored for years by DCP and are now being sold as second hand collectible boooks. I would see a problem if someone were reprinting them and selling them. That would violate the DS copyright AND Kathy's and her contributors. Having said that, $125?? That is INSANE!!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Though regardless of what we both think, as you say, ultimately the marketplace will be the judge as to how insane the price is. All I know is that even though many issues of TWODS are quite nice, I certainly can't imagine paying anything like $125 for one. Paying even $25 for one would probably give me pause.

And I honestly didn't mean to imply that there's anything wrong selling fanzines on Amazon. I was simply surprised because I've never seen such things for sale there. But then, I mostly buy DVDs and Blu-rays and imported CDs from Amazon. It's probably been at least ten years since I've bought a book from them. And I've bought electronic equipment from them twice. But I've never bought anything else and have never even ventured into the other areas of their site. So, I suppose I'm not aware of a great deal of the stuff that they offer...

[Nancy]

I was curious about this book and emailed Jim Pierson.  He told me today that the fan who wrote this novel got sale on Amazon was told before she could not do so and to remove it.  I dont know how long ago that demand was made but the bottom line is the novel isn't legit and the author was told no by the DC estate.