Fan fiction

Fan fiction (commonly abbreviated to "fanfic") is fiction written by people who enjoy a film, novel, television show or other dramatic or literary work, using the characters and situations developed in it and developing new plots in which to use these characters.

Fan fiction has come to the fore especially since the rise of the Internet, where it flourishes despite the possibility that it may infringe the copyright of the film or tv show on which it is based. Whether fan fiction actually infringes copyright is a matter of some debate. Fanfic does not, arguably, reduce the income which the original authors can extract for their work, and the authors of the fanfic receive little or no income from it, though under the law copyright (and trademark) infringement still occurs even when the infringer does not profit from it. Thus far, the major studios have generally tolerated fan fiction. A noted exception is Lucasfilms which has prosecuted many sites precisely because of their non-commercial nature.

A common version of fanfiction, "Slash" has been around since the 1970s. Named for stories featuring two characters interacting (often sexually) as in Kirk/Spock, these stories were often passed around in feminist fanzines. Nowadays the largest form of fanfic is based on Japanese anime/manga series, followed by American cartoon series and science fiction serials.

External links:

• Fan fiction on the Net
• fanfiction.net