Fans scripting series online
(Wed., Jan. 24, 2001)
From The Hollywood Reporter (Convergence p. 18)

By Gina McIntyre

Did you happen to see the episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in which one member of the enterprising Scooby Gang crosses paths with horror film "Army of Darkness' " leading man Ash, played by Bruce Campbell? Or how about "The X-Files" in which Mulder and Scully consider allowing A.D. Skinner to baby-sit their precocious 3-year-old?

If not, you're not alone. The off-kilter story lines never aired, nor were they ever scripted or shot. They did, however, appear onscreen -- the computer screen.

Thousands of often-unconventional ideas spring from the minds of amateur writers who author alternative adventures for the characters they have grown to love and post their stories on fan-fiction Web sites. But they also represent what some copyright holders perceive as a very real violation of their legal rights.

About two years ago, such film and television studios as 20th Century Fox and Paramount began cracking down on sites posting copyrighted material, including some fan-fiction sites, saying such endeavors caused them financial hardship by luring people away from the official sites for series including "Buffy," "X-Files" and the various "Star Trek" programs.

In doing so, the companies responsible for creating the material so beloved by fans angered their audiences, who felt insulted that they -- the people who support the series -- would be barred from expressing that devotion in a communal forum.

"Fan fiction has to stay off the official site, but if anything, it's great free advertising," said Robyn Murphy, a fan-fiction author who writes stories centered on "Buffy."

Much of fan fiction is centered on science fiction/fantasy programming, but sites can be found ranging from "Law & Order" to "M*A*S*H."

For the most part, authors who post their fan fiction online insist that they receive no revenue from their stories. Instead, their reward comes from the opportunity to write about their favorite series.

But copyright law is explicit that the making of "derivative works" -- works based or derived from another copyrighted work -- is the exclusive province of the owner of the original work. Technically, all fan fiction falls into that category.

"With regards to the copyright law, 'fanfic' is one of those things where creativity is given freedom," said Andrea McLerie, who maintains the largest collection of "Buffy" fan fiction at Slayer's Fan Fic Archive, www.slayerfanfic.com. "In most cases, the originators of the characters find it a deep compliment that fans choose to 'write' new wild-schemed stories. It's a quiet medium of entertainment, and it strongly draws people together."

McLerie's site was the subject of a crackdown last year in which she received a letter from Fox attorneys instructing her to revamp the site in accordance with certain legal guidelines and remove a portion of the site that offered access to unofficial transcripts from every episode.

On the whole, Fox spokesman Steven Melnick said fan-fiction sites operate with the conditional approval of studios. "As long as the fiction is not done in a commercial context or for commercial purposes, we don't have any problem with it," he said.

Fox and other copyright holders will extend to fans the right to use the characters in works of their own fiction, provided they post some kind of disclaimer that clearly identifies the owners of the copyrights.

Web mistress Nicola Simpson, who specializes in "X-Files" fiction, publishes original articles on the craft of writing fanfic by prominent authors at www.oocities.org/ workingstiffsfanfic. Simpson said she is careful to always post such disclaimers to avoid legal gray areas.

"This was a concern that we had when we developed Working Stiffs, (which was) particularly acute since my partner and I had both worked in the entertainment industry," Simpson said. "There are sites out there that push the envelope more than others. We made a conscious decision to limit our replication of copyrighted images."

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