I'm going to try this again, 'cause LJ ate my last two attempts. But first, I have to say you've just done me a great service. I heard Neil Gaiman read his Holmes story and TorCon this past August and wasn't sure where it was being published. I'll be running out to get this anthology immediately.
As for the rest...I definitely agree that if you decide to play in the sandbox created by a single creator, it's a different ballgame. At least within that creator's lifetime. Then it does require definite negotiation and respect by the would-be fanfic writers for the creator's wishes. That, or you "file off the serial numbers"--I love that phrase--so you can deal with similar issues without violating the copyright.
What I would object to is an estate holding a copyright indefinitely past the creator's lifetime, as corporations like Disney would prefer. That does greatly reduce the dialogue process between writers across generations. If the Iliad had been copyright protected, than we would have had neither Chaucer's Troilus and Cresseyde nor Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, and the world would be a sadder place. Neither would we have had your Holmes pastiche, or countless others, if Conan Doyle's work had not passed into the public domain.
When it comes right down to it, every writer is influenced by other writers and traditions, be they folk tale, current books or television shows. It all comes down to how far you want to separate yourself from those influences.
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Date: 2004-04-04 06:58 pm (UTC)As for the rest...I definitely agree that if you decide to play in the sandbox created by a single creator, it's a different ballgame. At least within that creator's lifetime. Then it does require definite negotiation and respect by the would-be fanfic writers for the creator's wishes. That, or you "file off the serial numbers"--I love that phrase--so you can deal with similar issues without violating the copyright.
What I would object to is an estate holding a copyright indefinitely past the creator's lifetime, as corporations like Disney would prefer. That does greatly reduce the dialogue process between writers across generations. If the Iliad had been copyright protected, than we would have had neither Chaucer's Troilus and Cresseyde nor Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, and the world would be a sadder place. Neither would we have had your Holmes pastiche, or countless others, if Conan Doyle's work had not passed into the public domain.
When it comes right down to it, every writer is influenced by other writers and traditions, be they folk tale, current books or television shows. It all comes down to how far you want to separate yourself from those influences.