Visitors to the site may be surprised to find fan fiction titles for sale here. Wait a minute, you might think. You can’t copyright or sell fan fiction. What’s going on?
That’s exactly right: you can’t copyright the entire work, or sell it for profit. That constitutes copyright and/or licensing infringement, and more than that, it’s just plain rude. I’m well aware of that and I even agree with both, because I understand the reasons why — and I want to see more official merchandise from my favorite universes!
That said, there are some things you can do with fan fiction. The important part is not to infringe on the original intellectual property holders’ rights. As long as you do that, you can copyright the original portions of the work. And you can usually sell it as a fundraiser. That’s what we’re doing on this site, and further, we’re not pretending anything otherwise.
First, the fan fiction isn’t being sold for profit. 100% of proceeds received (that’s total sales less printing and administrative fees) will be donated to a 501(c)(3) charity. Right now, that charity is Back Street Kittens, Inc., a cat rescue in Dacula, Georgia. While I have been involved off-and-on with BSK throughout its lifetime, I am not its owner and I resigned from its Board of Directors a few years ago when I realized I wasn’t able to give it the time it deserved. I’ve never had access to its funds.
Teresa at BSK is a friend of mine and the rescue — which has now become a sanctuary — can always use help with funds for food and supplies. What I’m doing on this site is no different than if I’d printed a few copies on my own, and then donated them to her to sell at rescue events. Any royalties statements that come in will clearly specify which books earned which royalties, so I’ll have no trouble being able to determine how much the donation checks should be.
Second, the fan fiction is clearly marked as fan fiction. The internal disclaimers clearly and explicitly state that the works are fan fiction and were not authorized by the original intellectual property holders. So do the external advertisements. The only way these titles could be mistaken for officially licensed products would be if someone was deliberately not paying attention.
Further, I sell fan fiction set in fictional universes that are no longer being actively developed, and haven’t been for years, even decades. The chances of my work significantly cutting into the original property holders’ lingering profits are miniscule at best. I should also note that all of the fan fiction sold on this site is suitable for General Audiences. There shouldn’t be any questions about objectionable content simply because there won’t be any objectionable content.
And last, but not least, original elements of fan fiction can be copyrighted by the author. I do, in fact, assert that copyright, but that’s primarily to prevent plagiarism. I’m not interested in profiting from it, and I’m not interested in ownership of any aspects of the works that I didn’t create myself. That’s why I clearly identify the original intellectual property owners in the disclaimers — the majority of the work is theirs, not mine, and I only claim a small part of it.
In all honesty, small fundraisers like this are more than acceptable uses of fan fiction. That said, on the off chance this did get the attention of the original IP holders, Contentnea Creek Books will take it down without a complaint or a fight. All they need to do is ask. We reserve the right to confirm that a takedown request actually came from the IP holder, but other than that, there won’t be any resistance.
I hope this makes things clear, but if it becomes an issue, I’ll withdraw my catalog of titles altogether. Unless and until that happens, though, I hope you simply read and enjoy!
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